By Adam Ali and Maha Suliman.
Benghazi, 3 November 2014:
The Libyan National Army (LNA) has claimed to have carried . . .[restrict]out airstrikes on a convoy of 30 vehicles attempting to reach Benghazi as clashes continued across the city.
Mohamed Al-Hajezi, a spokesman for Operation Dignity and pro-government forces, told the Libya Herald that the air force had bombed weapons, vehicles and personnel from Libya Dawn forces as they travelled from Sirte to Benghazi yesterday.
explained that the airstrikes took place east of Sirte on the road between Wadi Harawa and Nawfaliya. Hejazi claimed the entire convoy had been destroy and added that any forces opposed to the the army trying to enter the eastern city could expect to suffer the same fate.
In Benghazi itself, fierce clashes have continued following relative quiet across the city both this morning and yesterday morning. Thirty-six people were reported killed in fighting in Benghazi over a period of 24 hours. The online publication Bowabat Al-Wassat has said that a total of 254 individuals have now been killed in the city since the beginning of renewed clashes in mid-October, quoting medical sources.
In the Sabri district, the Libyan Red Crescent worked yesterday to evacuate staff and patients remaining at the Jumhuriya maternity hospital which has become caught-up in fighting there.
Seven newborn babies, five of which were described as being in critical condition, were transferred to Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC) in ambulances. Sources at the BMC told this newspaper that medics would have to do their best without specialist equipment provided at Jumhuriya. The unit which specialises in caesarean procedures was set up in 2013 despite staff shortages and adverse conditions.
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