Normality returns to parts of Benghazi after government gains

Police stations and other government offices reopened, though fighting with Islamist groups continues in port area of city.

Forces led by former general Khalifa Haftar have helped the Libyan government regain control of parts of Benghazi from Islamist militants. Reuters / June 4, 2014

BENGHAZI // Police stations, prisons and the local security headquarters have reopened in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi for the first time in over a year, after pro-government forces seized back part of the port city.

Medics say about 450 people have been killed in a two-month offensive by pro-government forces which has restored some sense of normality in parts of the city, though fighting is still raging in the port and other areas.

The return of order to some parts of Libya’s second city will provide some encouragement to the internationally recognised government, which lost control of the capital Tripoli to a group from the west of the country in August.

The government, which fled to the town of Bayda, east of Benghazi, sees the return of policing as a sign of progress towards ending the state of anarchy in the oil-producing North African country.

Critics say its military gains were achieved only with the help of a former army general, Khalifa Haftar, using aircraft and artillery in densely populated areas. Army special forces, backed up by Gen Haftar’s troops, have expelled Islamist groups that had roamed unchallenged through parts of Benghazi.

Five police stations, two prisons, the city’s passport immigration office and local intelligence headquarters have reopened, security officials said during an organised tour.

“We’ve resumed work at all police stations in Benghazi except where fighting is ongoing,” said Tareq Kharaz, spokesman for Benghazi’s security forces.

Army special forces will accompany police patrols, which had stopped due to ambushes, a spokesman for the force said.

Police stations had been closed for over a year due to frequent attacks with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons. Policemen and army officers used to keep a low profile, hardly showing up for work after a wave of assassinations.

Gen Haftar started his own campaign against Islamists in May. He uses artillery and planes from Libya’s outdated air force and denies claims by his opponents that he receives outside backing from countries worried about the spread of militants.

Three years after the civil war that ousted long-time leader Muammar Qaddafi, rival militias have turned on each other and two governments, each with its own parliament and army, are vying for legitimacy in Libya.

The Libya Dawn group, which took over Tripoli in August, has set up its own government in competition with that of Prime Minister Abdullah Al Thinni.

A United Nations special envoy warned on Thursday that many nearby states risked being destabilized if the Libya’s chaos was not quickly brought under control.

Hiroute Guebre Sellassie briefed the UN Security Council on the threats to the Sahel region in western Africa, a week after a senior US general announced that the extremist group ISIL had set up training camps in the east of the country.

* Reuters with additional reporting by Associated Press