Forces loyal to Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar have said that they had taken one of the last remaining strongholds of an al-Qaeda-linked group in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Haftar's self-declared Libyan National Army (LNA) "liberated all of Qanfouda", an area 15km west of the centre of Benghazi, spokesman Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

Two other LNA officials confirmed to AFP news agency that Qanfouda, the scene of fierce fighting since June against Ansar al-Sharia, had fallen.

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Jamal al-Zahawi, an LNA commander, told broadcaster Libya Channel that his forces have freed more than 60 people from captivity, following the fighting.

No casualty numbers were provided in the latest fighting.

Another official, however, said there were still pockets of resistance from Ansar al-Sharia, which is linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, in the districts of Al-Saberi and Souq al-Hout.

Regaining Qanfouda is part of a military campaign launched in mid-2014 under Haftar, who repeatedly said his aim is "to drive radical Islamists" from Benghazi.

Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, was the birthplace of the 2011 armed revolt that toppled longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But Libya descended into chaos after Gaddafi fell, with several armed groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, gaining a foothold in the north African country.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord based in the capital, Tripoli, has failed to assert its authority over the country, while a rival group backed by Haftar runs a separate administration from the eastern city of Tobruk.</s>Forces loyal to renegade Libyan general Haftar claim they have liberated Qanfouda, a stronghold of Ansar al-Sharia (Al Jazeera)

Forces loyal to Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar have said that they had taken one of the last remaining strongholds of an al-Qaeda linked group in the eastern city of Benghazi. Haftar’s self-declared Libyan National Army (LNA) “liberated all of Qanfouda”, an area 15km west of the centre of Benghazi, spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmari posted on Facebook…</s>BENGHAZI, Libya, Jan 25 (Reuters) - East Libyan forces said on Wednesday they had taken complete control of a long contested district in Benghazi after dozens of families and captives trapped by fighting left the area.

If confirmed, the capture of Ganfouda district would mark a major gain for the Libyan National Army (LNA) as it seeks to finish a military campaign against Islamist-led opponents that it has been waging for more than two years.

"The liberation of Ganfouda is complete," LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari told Reuters. He added however that the army was yet to secure a separate area known as the "12 Blocks" which lies between Ganfouda and Bosnaib, another neighbourhood recently taken by the LNA.

A spokesman for the LNA's Zawiya Martyrs' brigade, Wahid al-Zawi, said 62 captives had been freed from Ganfouda, as well as 30 families and 46 foreign workers.

The fate of civilians trapped in Ganfouda had been a major point of contention, with the United Nations and international human rights groups calling for them to be granted safe passage amid allegations of human rights abuses by both sides.

Some 30 LNA troops were killed and 25 wounded during the past two days of fighting in Ganfouda, a medical source said.

Benghazi has seen some of the worst violence in the conflict in Libya following the country's 2011 uprising. LNA commander Khalifa Haftar launched his Operation Dignity campaign against Islamists and other opponents in the city in May 2014. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Dominic Evans)</s>LIBYA (REUTERS) - East Libyan forces said on Wednesday (Jan 25) they had taken complete control of a long-contested district in Benghazi after dozens of families and captives trapped by fighting left the area.

If confirmed, the capture of Ganfouda district would mark a major gain for the Libyan National Army (LNA) as it seeks to finish a military campaign against Islamist-led opponents that it has been waging for more than two years.

A spokesman for the LNA's Zawiya Martyrs' brigade, Wahid al-Zawi, said 62 captives had been freed from Ganfouda, as well as 30 families and 46 foreign workers.

The fate of civilians trapped in Ganfouda had been a major point of contention, with the United Nations and international human rights groups calling for them to be granted safe passage amid allegations of human rights abuses by both sides.

Some 30 LNA troops were killed and 25 wounded during the past two days of fighting in Ganfouda, a medical source said.

Benghazi has seen some of the worst violence in the conflict in Libya following the country's 2011 uprising.

LNA commander Khalifa Haftar launched his Operation Dignity campaign against Islamists and other opponents in the city in May 2014.</s>BENGHAZI, Libya — A Libyan military spokesman says troops have routed Islamic militants from a key area they controlled in the eastern city of Benghazi.

The official speaks for the armed forces that answer to the internationally recognized parliament based in eastern Libya. Ali al-Mosmari says troops swept into the militants' stronghold in the city's western district of Ganfouda on Wednesday, after months of laying a tight siege on the area.

Al-Mosmari posted on Twitter: "We just freed Ganfouda."

He says dozens of civilians trapped by the fighting were liberated.

The two-year campaign to push militants out of Benghazi is led by Khalifa Hifter, who is not recognized by Libya's U.N.-backed government in the capital, Tripoli.

The battles have left Benghazi — Libya's second-largest city — in ruins but Hifter's popularity has surged.</s>Islamic State said it carried out the bombing, in the besieged district of Ganfouda. The area is one of the last pockets of resistance holding out against the Libyan National Army (LNA), a self-styled force loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar.

Haftar has been waging a military campaign in Benghazi for more than two years against Islamists and other opponents. The fighting is part of a broader, low-intensity conflict in Libya, which splintered into multiple political and armed factions after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

This year the LNA has made major gains in Benghazi, though fighting and attacks have continued in parts of the city.

All those killed in Sunday's bombing were from the LNA, a medical source from Benghazi's main hospital said.

The attack came after the latest advance on Saturday by the LNA, which said following heavy clashes that it had taken control of buildings along the seafront west of Ganfouda, encircling its opponents.

At least three LNA troops were killed in Saturday's fighting, security and medical officials said. An LNA spokesman, Ahmed al-Masmari, said 13 fighters from "terrorist groups" had also been killed.

Recently there have been efforts to evacuate civilians trapped by the fighting in Ganfouda but only small numbers of women and children and foreign workers have left the area. Masmari said on Sunday that about 120 families remained inside Ganfouda.

Those fighting the LNA in Benghazi include the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC), a coalition of Islamists and self-proclaimed revolutionaries, as well as militants loyal to Islamic State.</s>Among those killed in the attack in the city's central Keesh district was Mohamed Bugaighis, who headed an anti-corruption body, the officials said.

Bugaighis was also a supporter of the Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Khalifa Haftar, which has been waging a two-year military campaign against Islamists and other opponents in Benghazi.

An witness told Reuters the explosion happened close to Bugaighis as he was leaving his car to visit a cafe he frequented.

After struggling to make progress, Haftar's forces seized several key neighbourhoods earlier this year, though they still have not brought the city under full control. Although security has improved in the centre, fighting continues in peripheral areas and bombings against Haftar's forces have persisted.

Earlier, a security official said the bodies of 10 men who appeared to have been tortured and shot dead were found in Benghazi's Shabna suburb overnight between Thursday and Friday.

It was not clear who was responsible for the killings. Milad al-Zwai, a spokesman for Benghazi's special forces, said five of the bodies found in Shabna had been identified, but he did not give details.

The area is under the control of Haftar's forces.

In July, 14 bodies with gunshot wounds to the head were found in another Benghazi neighbourhood, Laithi, which had been the scene of fierce fighting before Haftar's forces took control of it several months earlier.</s>The powerful explosion outside a mosque in Benghazi's central Al-Majouri district after Friday prayers wrecked a number of cars and charred nearby buildings.

The attack came as Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) appears close to forcing Islamist-led opponents from their last holdouts after a military campaign that began in 2014.

It was not clear who staged Friday's bombing, but the LNA's rivals have carried out such attacks in Benghazi in the past. In November, a similar blast wounded a prominent tribal leader who had helped the LNA negotiate the takeover of several major oil ports.

Shuwail, who served as police chief in Benghazi after Libya's 2011 uprising, was interior minister between 2012 and 2013.</s>A Libyan military spokesman says troops have routed Islamic militants from a key area they controlled in the eastern city of Benghazi. The official speaks for the armed forces that answer to the internationally recognized parliament based in eastern Libya.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Stars and Stripes.</s>A Reuters reporter saw billowing smoke and flames at the site of the explosion near the city's Jala hospital, which destroyed several vehicles, scattered the body parts of victims and shattered windows in nearby buildings.

Witnesses said the blast had been caused by a car bomb though Abdulhakim Matouk, a spokesman for Libya's eastern government, said initial investigations suggested it was caused by projectiles fired from nearby. A hospital official said the bodies of three children had been received.

Benghazi has been the scene of fighting between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and Islamist-led opponents for more than two years. The LNA has made major advances in this year, but faces pockets of resistance in parts of the city.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Several car bombings in recent weeks targeting the LNA and its supporters have been claimed by the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC), the main group fighting the LNA, and by Islamic State.

Benghazi has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Libya's conflict, which developed as rival factions battled for power and oil wealth following the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The LNA drove its opponents late last week from the long-contested southern district of Guwarsha and claimed progress in its campaign to capture the besieged district of Ganfouda.
Forces of the Libyan National Army claim to have captured one of the last remaining strongholds of Benghazi from Ansar al-Sharia.