ISLAMISTS CONTINUE TO BATTLE FOR AN ISLAMIC STATE IN LIBYA At - TopicsExpress

ISLAMISTS CONTINUE TO BATTLE FOR AN ISLAMIC STATE IN LIBYA At least 130 people have been killed in the past 10 days during street fighting in Libyas second-largest city -- part of a wider picture of chaos gripping the major oil producer three years after the downfall and death of Muammar Gaddafi. The nascent army, backed by forces of a former general and armed youths, launched earlier this month an offensive against Islamists in Benghazi, expelling them from the airport area and the February 17 camp, one of their strongholds in the port city. But fresh fighting between the army and Ansar al-Sharia -- blamed by Washington on a 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate that killed the American ambassador -- erupted at the university campus and other areas next to the camp. A fire broke out in the universitys main building, a security source said. Army units also battled Islamists in other parts of the city, residents said. Families were seen packing up and fleeing, a familiar sight in Benghazi which has been a battlefield since former general Khalifa Haftar declared war on Islamists in May. He has allied himself with the army. reuters/article/2014/10/26/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0IF0XD20141026