Eight people were killed and eight wounded when a rocket hit a residential district in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Friday, officials said.
Fighting for control of the country’s second-largest city has been going on for a year, part of a conflict between former rebel groups who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now back two rival governments.
“The army has made much progress and they suffered big losses,” said army commander Fadhal al-Hassi, referring to the Majlis Al-Shura, an umbrella group. “We had been worried they would take revenge for that and indeed now they fired rockets,” Reuters reported.
Army forces backing the official government, based in the east since losing Tripoli to a rival faction, have expelled the militants from several districts but do not control the entire city.
To the east of Benghazi, IS militants attacked a security checkpoint near Derna, a security official said. Two soldiers were killed and five wounded, he said.
IS has exploited the security vacuum as the two governments fight each other, with neither side dominating the other. The militants have killed dozens of foreign Christians and attacked oilfields and a luxury hotel in Tripoli.
