Rival militias fight for Libya's Benghazi
Forces loyal to retired general Khalifa Haftar launch offensive to "liberate" eastern city from rival armed groups.


Haftar vowed to 'liberate' port city of Benghazi from what he described as "terrorists" [EPA]

Renewed fighting has broken out in Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, hours after a televised statement in which retired army general Khalifa Haftar vowed to "liberate" the city from what he called terrorists.

Sources told Al Jazeera that gunfire and explosions were heard early on Wednesday and that aircraft belonging to the general's forces were striking targets around the eastern city.

Witnesses said tanks and fighter jets had targeted a rival militia to Haftar known as the "February 17 Martyrs Brigade", who operate parts of Benghazi.

The group is part of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, a military coalition allied with the al-Qaeda-linked armed group Ansar al-Sharia, who control most of the city.

Haftar said in a a televised statement that his fighters are "fully prepared to achieve their intermediate goal ... to liberate the city of Benghazi".

He said that a suicide attack on his forces had resulted in "a great loss" and that Wednesday will be a "decisive day".

"We have taken the oath to take revenge for those martyrs, whether military or policemen or civilians," Haftar said.

"We cannot tolerate to see their bloods going down the drain.

"We must ensure that the criminals will meet their just punishment," he said on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera's Mahmood Abdulwahid, reporting from Tripoli, said that the offensive launched by Haftar's forces was responded to by a counter-offensive by the militia groups.

"The situation is very tense [and] the battle is going on around the Benina airport, located just outside of Benghazi," he said.

Contested parliament

The oil-rich North African nation has been gripped by turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time leader Moammar Gaddafi, with the authorities struggling to control powerful militias that ousted and killed him.

A parliament, elected in June, is recognised by the international community but contested by the militia controlling most of Tripoli, where an alliance of armed groups hold sway, and by other armed groups who dominate Benghazi.

Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and the elected parliament have decamped to the far eastern city of Tobruk because of widespread insecurity, including in the capital, where a rival administration has been set up.

The new forces controlling Tripoli, led by brigades from the western city of Misrata, have helped install an alternative parliament and prime minister.

Haftar launched a military offensive dubbed "Operation Dignity" against militias in Benghazi in May, but with little success.

The militias drove Haftar's forces from their main bases in Benghazi at the end of July, killing dozens of his fighters, and have targeted the city's airport for the past month.

At least 22 people, including soldiers, have been killed in violence in Benghazi over the past 48 hours, the AFP news agency reported. citing military and hospital sources.

On Tuesday, seven soldiers were killed in a car bomb near the airport, according to a spokesman for forces loyal to the former general.

Also on the same day, hospital officials said that fighting had continued in the small western town of Kikla, 150km west of Tripoli, leaving at least 17 people dead.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...949800139.html