Deadly clashes erupt in Libya between paramilitary force and militias

At least twenty four people have died and more than 120 were wounded in clashes between a paramilitary force and Islamist militias in Benghazi on Friday.

The area has been plagued by violence since the uprising against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but the latest attack was reportedly initiated when a former Libyan army colonel Khalifa Haftar attacked the militias.

The interim Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thani condemned the action as illegal and considered it as an attempted coup, he requested that, “the rebel brigades commit to the orders issued by the Chief of Staff and only to move accordingly under those orders and not to disobey them in order to maintain Libya and its unity.”

As the clashes erupted the authorities announced the closure of the city’s Benina airport whilst Algeria sent a team of special forces to safely evacuate its ambassador.