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By Adam Ali and Ayman Amzein.
Benghazi, 1 November 2014:
A huge car bomb detonated in the early hours of . . .[restrict]the morning near Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC) has damaged nearby homes and property as clashes in the city centre between pro-government forces and Islamists across Benghazi continue into their sixteenth day.
Residents in Fuwayhat near to BMC told the Libya Herald that the massive explosion occurred beneath a bridge in the area at around 4 am. The blast did not result in any casualties, they explained, but did break windows in surrounding houses and even caused some minor damage to the hospital itself.
Elsewhere in the city fighting continued predominantly in the Ras Al-Beida, Sabri, Salmani, Maskeen, Laithi and Buatni areas.
Speaking yesterday on Sky News Arabia, LNA spokesman Mohammed Al-Hejazi said pro-government forces now held sway over 95 percent of Benghazi and had the backing of not only the people of Benghazi but most others in the country.
Head of Saiqa Special Forces Investigations Unit Fadel Al-Hassi told this newspaper that fighting in Benghazi’s district of t Laithi had centred around a medical supply warehouse which began yesterday afternoon. Several shells and missiles rained down on the area over the course of the clashes.
Hassi said two civilians had been killed by snipers from Benghazi Revolutionaries Shoura Council (BRSC) with three more civilians injured when they were caught in the crossfire during fighting in the area.
Jumhuriya Maternity Hospital in the Sabri district had to be evacuated yesterday because of fighting in the area. Hopes of transferring the facilities to the BMC did not succeed, apart from a skeleton staff for emergency caesarians, because facilities there are overstretched, according to BMC sources.
In Buatni, the Libyan Red Crescent was prevented from rescuing five families because of the intensity of clashes there. However, seven families were evacuated by it in Ras Al-Beida and Sabri.
The Red Crescent has also been providing safe passage for engineers working in the Salmani area to restore power there.
Elsewhere the organisation has continued to retrieve the bodies of combatants killed in the fighting. Five were taken to BMC for identification yesterday. Reclaimed bodies have often been left for a matter of weeks.
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