[AnNahar] At least 340 people have been killed in fighting for Libya's second city Benghazi since the launch of a government-backed offensive against Islamist militias a month ago, medical sources said Saturday.More than 200 of the dead have been soldiers -- either members of the regular army or loyalists of controversial retired general Khalifa Haftar
... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
, the Red Islamic Thingy and hospital sources said.
But civilians are also among the casualties, caught up in the crossfire as troops battle to wrest the eastern city back from the militias that seized it in July.
All of Libya's three big cities -- the capital Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, third city Misrata and Benghazi -- are largely under the control of Islamist-led militias.
In Benghazi, one of them -- Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
-- is blacklisted by Washington as a terror group for its alleged role in a deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate.
Three years after dictator Moamer Qadaffy was toppled and killed in a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
-backed revolt, Libya is awash with weapons and powerful militias, and run by rival governments and parliaments.
The internationally recognized government has set up base in the remote eastern town of Shahat and large swathes of the North African nation are beyond its control.