Shelling in Libya's Benghazi kills 5: medic

Five people were killed and 11 wounded on Friday when shells hit a political rally in the centre of Libya's second city Benghazi, a medical source said.

"There were five dead and 11 wounded by shelling on a group of people in the centre of Benghazi" in the east of the country, a doctor at the city's Al-Jalaa hospital said.

An AFP journalist at the scene in Al-Kish Square saw two dead and several wounded among people who had been at a rally in support of armed forces loyal to the internationally recognised parliament in Tobruk.

Libyan demonstrators run for cover from shelling during a protest in Benghazi calling for military forces to re-capture the southern city of Sirte from the Islamic State group without foreign intervention on May 6, 2016 ©Abdullah Doma (AFP)

These forces are under the command of General Khalifa Haftar.

"The shells were fired from the Soug al-Hout sector" in the north of the city, a military source said of an area controlled by anti-Haftar armed groups.

For nearly two years, Benghazi has seen bloody battles between loyalist forces and armed groups including jihadists from the Islamic State group and Ansar al-Sharia, which is close to Al-Qaeda.