Libyan rogue general's forces bomb Benghazi camp
Forces loyal to rogue army general Khalifa Hafter on Wednesday bombed a training camp affiliated with a militia incorporated into Libya's regular army in the eastern city of Benghazi.
"Our air force bombed the camp of the 'February 17 Battalion' [militia] in western Benghazi," spokesman Ahmed al-Gazwi told Anadolu Agency.
No casualties were reported.
Fears of a possible Libyan civil war have mounted over the past two weeks, since Hafter declared war on armed militias – some of which have been absorbed into the army – in Benghazi.
Amid the ever-worsening insecurity in the North African country, Washington urged US citizens there to leave "immediately" and was even readying a possible evacuation of its embassy.
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Benghazi was cradle of the 2011 uprising that ousted long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi.
"A warplane carried out raids on a camp of the 'February 17 Martyrs Brigades,' hitting it with two missiles," Ahmed al-Jazaoui, an ex-rebel told AFP.
The powerful brigade is made up of Islamist ex-rebels.
Attack on interior ministry force
Haftar, who returned to Libya from American exile to join the uprising against Gaddafi, launched a deadly anti-Islamist campaign in Benghazi on May 16 when warplanes also bombed February 17 positions.
Subsequent fighting killed at least 79 people.
On the political front, the cabinet office condemned an attack late Tuesday on an interior ministry force in charge of protecting the government, in which there were no casualties.
The incident in Tripoli was the work of "outlaws," said the government of outgoing premier Abdullah al-Thani, who resigned last month and is to hand over to his contested successor, Islamist-backed liberal businessman Ahmed Miitig.
Libya's interim General National Congress passed a vote of confidence in a Miitig-led government, which critics have charged was "illegally elected".
On Tuesday, gunmen attacked the family home of Miitig, who was elected this month in a chaotic GNC vote, after Thani resigned following what he said was an attack on him and his family.
Miitig, Libya's fifth post-Gaddafi premier, is due to lead a transition until fresh parliamentary elections are held on June 25.
The GNC has accused Haftar of launching a coup but he said the people had given him a "mandate" to crush Islamists after thousands rallied in his support in Benghazi and Tripoli last Friday.
The government in Tripoli, for its part, has also described Haftar's move as an attempted coup.
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