Libya Forces Seize Key Central Area of Benghazi from Jihadists
Forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognized government seized a key central neighborhood of second city Benghazi from Islamist militias on Tuesday, the military said.
The advance came as Libya's parliament again failed to vote on a U.N.-backed unity government seen as a crucial step in ending years of political chaos and conflict in the North African state.
Special forces retook the Benghazi area of Lithi, which had been a stronghold for extremist fighters including the Islamic State group, after days of fierce clashes.
Fadel al-Hassi of Libya's special forces said the neighborhood was "totally liberated."
Libya has had rival administrations since the summer of 2014 when the recognized government fled Tripoli after a militia alliance including Islamists overran the capital.
A power vacuum since the 2011 toppling of strongman Moammar Gadhafi has fostered the rise of IS, which is currently headquartered in the former autocrat's hometown of Sirte, but control of Benghazi remains divided between a collection of militias.
Fighting has flared periodically in Benghazi as security forces try to wrest neighborhoods from armed groups including IS and Ansar al-Sharia, which is close to al-Qaida.
Lithi had become notorious as a jihadist nerve center, dubbed by locals as "Benghazi's Kandahar" -- a reference to the Afghan province that has seen some of the worst insurgent attacks since the U.S. invasion of 2001.
Residents celebrated alongside loyalist fighters in streets retaken from Islamists, flashing victory signs next to the bombed-out shells of buildings.
- Vote adjourned to next week -
Libya's conflict, which has help to create a surge in refugees fleeing the country, has alarmed Western governments over the prospect of extremist groups including IS establishing a bridgehead just 300 kilometers (190 miles) from Europe.
Successive U.N.-backed initiatives aimed at reuniting Libya's rival political factions have so far failed to find a route out of the crisis.
The internationally recognised administration, now exiled in the eastern town of Tobruk, failed on Tuesday to hold a vote of confidence in a new, U.N.-brokered unity government because it lacked a quorum.
"The required quorum (89 members of parliament) was not reached, so the president of the chamber adjourned the session," MP Mohamed al-Abbani told AFP.
Another parliamentarian, Ali al-Qaidi, confirmed that "the necessary quorum was not reached, and the session for the vote was adjourned until next week."
Forces loyal to the Tobruk government launched a major operation at the weekend aimed at retaking areas of Benghazi under extremist control.
Loyalists have since seized al-Marayseh port in the west of the city and al-Hawari in its south.
Medical sources in Benghazi said Tuesday that more than 20 loyalist fighters had died since the launch of the latest offensive.
A military source said that special forces were now in control of the headquarters of two army brigades in the city's southeast after retaking them from militiamen, and officials said a third army building was recaptured in Benghazi's south.
In the coastal city of Derna, 300 kilometers east of Benghazi, six fighters died in clashes with IS, a local official told AFP on Tuesday, adding that a senior member of the jihadist group was also killed.
Earlier this month the military announced that one of its fighter jets had been shot down as it carried out air strikes on opposition positions near Benghazi.
Source: Agence France Presse
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