Death toll in Libya’s Benghazi clashes hits 75

Another nine people were killed in violent clashes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi between the renegade general Khalifa Hafter’s forces and Islamic militants, making the total death toll rise to 75, medical sources said on Monday.

A security source said the crossfire were concentrated in Benghazi’s Laithi, Boatni and Al-Masakin regions. On Sunday evening, the Islamist militants mounted a bomb attack on Haftar’s house, killing a passerby. The pro-secular general was not at the scene.

Benghazi Medical Center said that it had received another eight bodies, including two soldiers.

Haftar, who played a major role in toppling Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been waging a war on Benghazi’s Islamist armed groups since May. He recently claimed that he would ally with Libya’s regular army and local insurgents to “liberate” Benghazi.

Local media reported that Haftar’s manoeuvre was on Sunday authorized by the Libyan government and his forces were fighting alongside the national troops.

Libya has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence after the 2011 turmoil that ousted and killed Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Islamist militants and pro-secular militia have been vying for cities and towns for months, and fighting still flares near Tripoli, Benghazi and Gharyan.