(MENAFN- Arab Times) Islamic State militants said they killed a Libyan army commander in the eastern city of Benghazi on Wednesday, as a pro-government offensive against the Islamists appeared to stall. Forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognized government have been fighting Islamist groups in the country's second-largest city for over a year, part of a wider struggle since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011. Army forces backed by armed residents have regained some of the territory in Benghazi lost last year. But critics say their air strikes and artillery have pounded parts of Benghazi into rubble without gaining much ground. New clashes erupted on Wednesday in the Lithi district, a stronghold of militant Islamists.
During the fighting, Salem al-Naili, the commander of a special forces brigade, and another soldier were killed, army officials said. Four more soldiers were wounded. Islamic State, which has expanded in Libya by exploiting a vacuum as two governments vie for control, claimed responsibility on social media for Naili's killing. Islamic State and other militant groups have been getting support from groups in Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, Nigeria and Sudan, a top army commander told reporters after meeting with senior commanders in Marj town east of Benghazi. Asked when the Benghazi battle would be finished, the commander, Khalifa Haftar, said: "I cannot give a date but it will be very soon." UN Special Envoy Bernardino Leon disputed that.
"In Benghazi, clashes " continue with neither side making significant gains," he told the UN Security Council. The UN envoy for Libya is urging the Islamist-led government that seized the country's capital to sign a peace deal that would establish a unity government in the North African nation where fighting and chaos is worsening. Bernardino Leon emphasized to the UN Security Council on Wednesday that "the door remains open for them to join." He stressed that the UN-brokered agreement "is also the fruit of their hard work, and they should not be on the sidelines." The government in Tripoli, which is backed by militias, took part in early stages of talks but refused to participate in later discussions. Meanwhile, Libya accused the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday of hampering its terrorism fight, while the UN envoy to Libya said the growing threat of Islamic State could only be tackled once warring parties agree on a government of national unity.
Libyan UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi complained that the Security Council Libya sanctions committee had not responded to its March request to import weapons, tanks, jets and helicopters to take on Islamic State militants and monitor its borders. "The committee has indirectly contributed to continuing instability, as well as entrenching terrorism in Libya," he told the council. "There is premeditated hampering of the efforts of the Libyan government to strengthen its capacity to combat terrorism and to extend its authority to all Libyan territory." Under a UN arms embargo imposed on the North African state in 2011, the internationallyrecognised government is allowed to import arms with the approval of the Security Council committee, which operates on consensus. But more than half of the 15-member committee put a "hold" on the request, effectively placing it in limbo. Dabbashi said extremists had been "emboldened by the foot-dragging in the Security Council on arming the Libyan army."
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