Libyan Armed Forces Striving to Defeat Terrorists in Benghazi Within Hours

The Libyan Army has "entered the last hours before the fight for Benghazi ends," spokesman Ahmed Mismari told Sputnik.

TRIPOLI (Sputnik) — The Libyan Armed Forces plan to defeat terrorists in the eastern city of Benghazi in the next few hours, army spokesman Col. Ahmed Mismari told Sputnik on Thursday.

"We have entered the last hours before the fight for Benghazi ends," Mismari said.

He stressed that 18 soldiers died during the military operation.

Last week, the Libyan Armed Forces under the control of the internationally-recognized parliament in Tobruk announced the general mobilization in the country. The operations were launched against various militant groups, such as al-Qaeda and Daesh, which had seized parts of the eastern towns of Benghazi and Ajdabiya.

Libya has been in a state of turmoil since 2011, when a civil war broke out in the country and long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown, and the country was contested by two rival governments — the internationally-recognized Council of Deputies based in Tobruk and the Tripoli-based General National Congress.

The internal conflict and instability prompted the advance of militant groups, particularly Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries.