综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Africa

Death toll hits 79 in Libyan armed clashes

By Agence France-Presse in Benghazi, Libya | China Daily | Updated: 2014-05-19 08:32

At least 79 people have been killed and 141 others wounded in fierce clashes in eastern Libya between armed groups loyal to a rogue ex-general and Islamist militias, a Health Ministry official said on Saturday.

Libya's government accused the "outlaw" retired general, Khalifa Haftar, and his irregular forces of trying to carry out a coup as they fight to crush militants in the restive eastern city of Benghazi.

Haftar, who led ground forces in the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gadhafi, used warplanes and helicopters on Friday to support an offensive in pitched battles.

Reacting to his vow to continue fighting until Benghazi is "purged of terrorists", the army announced a no-fly zone over the port city and suburbs, vowing to shoot down any aircraft that defies the ban.

The government, legislature and army charged that Haftar's operation was tantamount to a coup against the central authorities.

It is "an action outside state legitimacy and a coup d'etat", said a joint statement read on state television by Nuri Abu Sahmein, the head of the General National Congress.

"All those who took part in this coup bid will be prosecuted," said Abu Sahmein, flanked by recently appointed Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani and armed forces chief of staff Abdessalam Jadallah al-Salihin.

Haftar denied the accusations against him.

"Our operation is not a coup and we do not plan to seize power," he told reporters. "This operation has a precise goal, which is the eradication of terrorism" in Libya.

Haftar, who sees himself as the chief of the "national armed forces" and has the support of rogue officers and army units as well as warplanes and helicopter gunships, seemed to act on his own accord.

Haftar's threat to purge Benghazi of the "terrorists" is an affront to the authorities, who have struggled to stomp out lawlessness in the North African nation, which is awash with weapons and effectively ruled by a patchwork of former rebels.

Once seen as heroes, ex-rebels, particularly Islamists, have been blamed for attacks that have killed dozens of members of security forces, judges and foreigners in Benghazi, the cradle of the 2011 revolt.

On Saturday, Haftar's spokesman Colonel Mohammad Hijazi advised residents in western and southern districts of Benghazi to evacuate their homes before fresh attacks were launched on Islamist militant targets.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
广州市| 饶阳县| 甘孜| 岑溪市| 平度市| 泽州县| 偏关县| 芒康县| 宜春市| 特克斯县| 禄丰县| 内江市| 东山县| 兴仁县| 连山| 阳泉市| 天津市| 江都市| 临安市| 扬中市| 石台县| 弋阳县| 连南| 彭州市| 长兴县| 肃北| 庆阳市| 涡阳县| 洱源县| 海门市| 江北区| 灵璧县| 莒南县| 梁平县| 瓮安县| 仲巴县| 溧阳市| 鄂尔多斯市| 宁南县| 安阳市| 安达市|