Libyan forces recapture areas of Benghazi from Islamists

Pro-government Libyan forces have recaptured areas of second city Benghazi from Islamist militiamen, military officials said.

Army sources said that the pro-government forces recaptured military positions that the Islamists, including the radical Ansar al-Sharia group, had seized in July.

Moreover, Armed forces general staff spokesman Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari said the entire east of Benghazi was now back under the control of government troops, while pro-government forces were making advances in the south of the city.

A spokesman for Libya's special forces said the unit took back its headquarters on the road to Benghazi airport, in the city's southeastern Bouatni region.

At least 36 people have been killed when loyalists of former general Khalifa Haftar and regular army troops attacked Islamist militiamen in east and south Benghazi, while 254 people are said to have been killed during the two-week-old attack.

Witnesses said Haftar loyalists backed by government troops and armed civilians seized several homes owned by Islamists and destroyed some of them.

Air strikes targeted several neighbourhoods, including the Islamist stronghold of Al-Gawarsha in the west, witnesses said.

They said the government troops had been deployed in several parts of the eastern city for the first time since July.

Islamist militias, including Ansar al-Sharia which is blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist group, have held sway in most of Benghazi since July.