By Maha Sulaiman.
Benghazi, 18 January 2015:
Fighters, believed to be members of Ansar Al-Sharia, launched a heavy barrage of mortars and rockets . . .[restrict]in parts of Benghazi this evening. “It is very violent,” head of the Special Forces investigation Department Fadel Al-Hassi told the Libya Herald. The areas affected are Leithi, Buatni and Shibna, he said. Ansar, he claimed, were firing rockets at random. One, he added, had hit a family home in Shibna. He did not know if there had been casualties.
The rest of the city, however, is calm.
The violence is thought to be a response by Ansar to the Libya National Army’s announcement of ceasefire. The LNA has said, however, that the truce will not happen in Benghzi or Derna because there it is fighting terrorism.
A fortnight ago, the LNA claimed to have almost full control of Leithi, hitherto regarded as an Ansar stronghold.
Continuing low level clashes in Benghazi have killed at least eight people and wounded 24 in the past six days according to the city’s hospitals. The figure is probably higher as some of those wounded are taken outside Benghazi. [/restrict]
