May 19, 2014

On May 19, 2014, clashes between the forces affiliated with Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who defected from the army, and the battalion of rebels affiliated with the Islamists and supported by the Libyan army broke out in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Many people were wounded and killed in the fighting.

The clashes erupted after Haftar's forces attacked the headquarters of Rafallah al-Sahati Brigade in the Hawari region following long-range artillery shelling, which killed one member of the brigade and wounded three others. A MiG aircraft and helicopter that took off from Benina Airport in Benghazi intervened to support Haftar's forces, whose spokesman announced that the operation aimed to “cleanse” Benghazi of terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, the chief of staff of the Libyan Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Abdessalem Jadallah al-Salihin, called on the Benghazi rebels to deter Haftar's forces, who call themselves “the National Army Forces,” and prevent them from taking over Benghazi.

The clashes, which killed at least two people and wounded eight more, were part of the fresh security chaos in Benghazi caused by the tug of war between the Islamist militants and their pro-Haftar adversaries calling for self-rule. On Feb. 14, 2014, Haftar declared a “media coup” that was not translated into actual military action. Ismail al-Salabi, leader of the Rafallah al-Sahati Brigade, told Al-Hayat that the attackers included militants known for their affiliation with former President Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, who had tried to deter the rebels during the Feb. 17, 2011, revolution.

Salabi confirmed that many victims fell during the clashes, which were centered on a cement factory in the Hawari region, its surroundings and in Sidi Bishr near Benina Airport. He could not give an exact number of victims. Haftar's forces started their attack from their headquarters in Ar-Rajma Camp outside Benghazi. Witnesses told Al-Hayat that long-range shelling was launched on the same camp during the clashes. The chief of staff had called on Haftar to vacate the headquarters and on the soldiers there to join the camps of the regime forces.