In Benghazi offensive, 11 soldiers fall

Eleven soldiers were killed and 55 wounded on day one of an offensive against extremist groups in Benghazi, the news agency loyal to the authorities in eastern Libya said Tuesday.

Forces loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar  began the attack aimed at ousting extremists from their final two strongholds in Libya's second city.

"There were 11 dead and 55 wounded among the armed forces in different parts of Al-Sabri and the town center," special forces spokesman Colonel Miloud Zouai told the agency.

These forces form part of Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army.

Forces loyal to Haftar, who does not recognize a UN-backed unity government in Tripoli and backs a rival parliament, have retaken most of the coastal city since it was overrun by extremists in 2014.

Benghazi was the birthplace of the 2011 revolution in which strongman Moamer Gaddafi was toppled and killed.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since the uprising, with rival authorities and militias battling for control of the oil-rich North African country.

SS