Libyan forces yesterday battled Islamist militants with rockets and warplanes for the control of an army base in the eastern city of Benghazi, after at least 30 people were killed in overnight fighting.
Intense fighting in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, and battles between rival militias in the capital Tripoli have pushed Libya deeper into chaos after two weeks of the fiercest violence since the 2011 civil war ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
Foreign states followed the United States and UN in pulling diplomats out of the North African oil-producing state after clashes between two rival brigades of former anti-Gaddafi fighters closed Tripoli’s international airport.
A rocket hit a fuel depot near Tripoli airport two days ago, igniting a huge blaze that Libyan firefighters yesterday were battling to put out.
Italy’s government and Italian oil group ENI had agreed to help, the government said yesterday.