Forces loyal to Marshal Khalifa Haftar retook a district in Libya’s Benghazi from jihadis after fighting that killed nine soldiers in two days, a military source said to japantimes.co.jp.
“We now control the district of Abu Sneib” in the southwest of the city, said a commanding officer in the army headed by Haftar, who backs the parliament in the country’s east.
“Our forces now completely surround the Qanfuda area” nearby, the same source said.
The source said 52 troops had died in fighting since Jan. 1 in and around Benghazi.
Haftar has managed to retake a large part of the eastern coastal city from jihadis since Benghazi came under their control in 2014.
But jihadis still control the central districts of Al-Saberi and Souq al-Hout.
These jihadi groups include the Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi, an alliance of Islamist militias that includes the al-Qaida-linked Ansar Al-Sharia.
