Libya troops storm Islamist militias in Benghazi

Up to 6,000 Libya troops have converged on the country’s eastern capital of Benghazi, pounding a series of bases and checkpoints housing Islamist militias.

The fighting in Libya is the heaviest since the Arab spring revolution broke out.

Khalifa Hiftar, a former commander of the 2011 uprising that deposed Muammar Gaddafi, is leading the attack. Hiftar announced the operation was launched to clear Benghazi of Islamist militias and restore Libya’s dignity.

Hiftar, who called on the army earlier this year to mount a coup against the government, appears to have the support of a significant proportion of Libya's armed forces.

But it is not clear whether the attacks have official sanction. The government denounced the offensive while Hiftar insisted that the operation was sanctioned by army commanders.

But Libya's government insisted the operation had no official sanction, with the chief of the general staff, Abdul Salam Jadallah, branding Hiftar a criminal and ordering Benghazi's militias to fight back.

Air force planes struck the bases of the Rafalla al-Sahati and Ansar al-Sharia militias, the latter blamed by Washington for the attack two years ago on the US consulate that led to the death of ambassador Chris Stevens.

By early afternoon on Friday hundreds of Benghazi residents had assembled on a flyover to watch the battles around militia bases, as jets and helicopters circled above.

A new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeg, was elected earlier this month in a vote opponents labelled fraudulent, and has still to take office, which remains in the hands of former defence minister Abdullah al-Thinni, himself a replacement for Ali Zeidan who was sacked in March.