BENGHAZI: Fighting raged between government forces and Islamists in eastern Libya on Tuesday, with 21 soldiers killed since the clashes broke out at the weekend, a medical official said.

The continued fighting came a day after UN envoy Bernardino Leon said he hoped the rival parliaments in the largely lawless North African country would endorse his proposals for a unity government later this week.

Fighting began on Saturday, when forces of the internationally recognised government launched an offensive against the town of Ain Mara, held by the Mujahedeen Council of Derna.

The campaign was aimed at advancing on the city of Derna, about 25 kilometres to its east, which is a bastion of Islamist militias.

A medical official was quoted by the government’s media arm as saying 21 loyalists had been killed since Saturday, but gave no details on any casualties among the Islamists.

The Mujahedeen Council is backed by Fajr Libya, a coalition of militias that seized Tripoli last summer and set up a parallel government there.

It has recently claimed to have driven jihadists of the self-styled Islamic State out of much of Derna, and loyalist forces have been seeking to take advantage of that fighting to gain ground themselves.

The United Nations has been brokering talks for months between the Tripoli administration and the internationally recognised government, which is headquartred in the east.

On Monday, UN envoy Leon said there were only two or three remaining stumbling blocks and that he hoped those could be addressed when peace talks resume Thursday in Morocco.

Libya was plunged into chaos after the overthrow of Moamer Qadhafi’s regime in 2011 and not only has two rival governments but also numerous militias fighting for their own territorial and financial interests.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play