Libyans urged to donate blood as Benghazi chaos intensifies

Libyans have been urged to donate blood after fierce fighting between armed groups and a rogue Libyan general killed 18 people in Benghazi on Monday and triggered fears of an all-out war. 

Officials at Benghazi's hopsitals said at least 11 soldiers were among the dead in fighting that left 81 people wounded. Panic was triggered in hospitals in Libya's second-largest city  which appealed to the public to donate blood.

"Benghazi is suffering, people are fed up, spare them," the head of the Benghazi Medical Centre, Doctor Leila Buigiguis, said in remarks broadcast on television.

The government of outgoing prime minister Abdullah al-Thani said it was holding an "emergency meeting" on violence, which residents said had eased on Monday afternoon.

It was the deadliest day since 76 people were killed in mid-May as rogue general Khalifa Haftar unleashed an offensive dubbed "Operation Dignity" to purge Libya of Islamists he brands "terrorists".

Underscoring the mounting chaos in the North African country, gunmen on Monday opened fire on the road convoy of army chief Abdessalam Jadallah al-Abidi in Tripoli, without causing casualties, his spokesman said.

Colonel Ali al-Shikhi said the guards of Abidi, who has criticised Haftar's actions in Benghazi, returned fire.

Benghazi attack in early hours

Saad al-Warfali, head of a Benghazi air base loyal to Haftar, told AFP that fighters from the militant groups Ansar al-Sharia, Rafallah al-Sahati and others had attacked a Special Forces air base in central Benghazi in the early hours.  

The Libyan air force had retaliated by launching air strikes on the assailants, added the officer.

General Saqr al-Jerushi had said announced that forces loyal to Haftar had launched air strikes on three targets in Benghazi on Sunday afternoon, hitting them “directly and precisely”.

Health authorities in Benghazi issued urgent calls for blood donations on Monday.

There have been complaints on social media of a blackout of news from Benghazi since the onset of clashes.

Satellite channel "Libya for the Free" reports that the head of Libya’s air forces promised the citizens of Benghazi that they would do everything in their power to protect civilians.

The source, who was not named, estimated that forces loyal to Haftar have control over 80 percent of the city.

The station, which is based in Doha, Qatar and was established during Libya’s 2011 revolution, carries allegations from eye-witnesses that Ansar al-Sharia had carried out random attacks on civilians and on houses in Benghazi.

Haftar’s official spokesperson, Mohammed al-Hijazi, conducted a telephone interview with the channel and called on citizens to avoid sites belonging to Ansar al-Sharia, to prevent being exploited as “human shields”.

The Ministry of Education announced that exams in Benghazi will be postponed amid the deterioration of the security situation.

A bomb dropped by Libyan air forces hit the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Benghazi on Sunday.

Translation: Teachers inspect the damage from the air strike on a Benghazi school yesterday (Reuters)

Translation: War planes bomb Ansar al-Sharia sites in Benghazi

Translation: A picture of an Egyptian Apache bombing residential neighbourhoods in Benghazi this morning

Monday’s strikes came after North African-based militant group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb urged Libyans to fight Haftar and his so-called National Army, labelling the ex-army general an "enemy of Islam".

Authorities have denounced Haftar as an outlaw, but he has won over units from the regular army and air force and says he aims to crush "terrorism" in Benghazi.