Militants have killed five soldiers in Libya’s northeastern city of Benghazi, an army commander says.
Special forces commander Fadhil al-Hasi told Reuters on Wednesday that militants belonging to a group called Majlis al-Shoura had attacked an army checkpoint in Benghazi on Tuesday, killing five soldiers.
“Twenty-five soldiers are missing,” the army official said, adding that the soldiers had most likely been abducted during the attack.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, a police officer was assassinated in the city, when unknown militants reportedly fired a volley of shots at him.
Benghazi, which was the birthplace of the 2011 revolution in Libya, has been the scene of numerous attacks and assassinations against police and army personnel over the past year.
Nearly three years after the fall of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is still grappling with rising insecurity with numerous clashes between government forces and rival militia groups.
The former rebels refuse to lay down arms despite efforts by the central government to impose law and order.
Thousands of angry Libyan demonstrators frequently take to the streets in different cities to protest against insecurity in the North African country.
