Troops loyal to Libya's internationally backed government launched a new offensive to seize the extremist-held city of Benghazi, as witnesses saw corpses on the streets Sunday and ambulances racing by, AP reports.
Information over what was happening in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, remained unclear, though a medical official at al-Jalaa hospital, one of only two working hospitals in the city, said at least 10 people had been killed since Friday, Libyan army deploys reinforcements in Benghazi.
Benghazi has been held by the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, an umbrella group for the city's hard-line militias. Those militias include Ansar al-Shariah, which the US blames for the September 2012 attack on the US Consulate there that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Last year, renegade General Khalifa Hifter led a unilateral offensive against the Benghazi militias. On 15 October, Hifter formally joined ranks with Libya's elected government. Since then, they say they have managed to take control of most of the city.
Members of a brigade headed by field commander Salah Bogheib and loyal to Khalifa Haftar hold up their guns as they fight alongside Libyan army troops against Islamist gunmen in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on December 17, 2014. Battles between the coalition of the army and forces loyal to Haftar against militia gunmen took place in several parts of the city but the army reportedly secured the area south-west of the city centre. AFP
Residents said on Sunday that the military took control of large portions of al-Leiti, a Benghazi neighbourhood regarded as a major stronghold for the extremist militias. They said government troops patrolled the neighbourhood's streets.
An official with the special forces of the elected government said their campaign began early on Saturday. He said air forces backed up the ground troops.
He also said two men in his unit had been killed. He, as well as the hospital official, spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to speak to journalists.
The widespread militia violence has plunged Libya into chaos less than four years after a Nato-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
The country's post-Gaddafi transition has collapsed, with two rival governments and parliaments - each backed by different militias - ruling in the country's eastern and western regions.
The elected parliament was never allowed to properly convene due to a takeover of the capital, Tripoli, by Islamic and tribal militias. That parliament has been forced to function in the eastern city of Tobruk, while the pre-election parliament has declared itself legitimate and remains in Tripoli.