News / North Africa

Rockets kill six at protest rally in Libya's Benghazi

Friday, 23 October 2015 9:49 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 23 October 2015 10:51 PM ]

Libyans hold a large version of their national flag during a demonstration against a UN-brokered peace deal in the center of the eastern coastal Libyan city of Benghazi on October 23, 2015. (AFP photo)

At least six people have been killed when a volley of rockets hit a massive protest rally in Libya's second largest city, Benghazi.

At least seven rockets hit a crowd of more than 2,000 people who had gathered in the center of the eastern city to demonstrate against a UN-proposed peace deal to end a political crisis in the North African country.

Medical sources have confirmed that more than two dozen people were also injured in the fatal assault. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Libyans attend a demonstration against a UN-brokered peace deal in the center of the eastern coastal Libyan city of Benghazi on October 23, 2015. (AFP photo)

Rockets and indiscriminate shelling sometimes hit residential districts in the coastal city, which is divided into areas controlled by the rival armed factions.

The latest developments come more than two weeks after the UN special envoy for Libya, Bernardino Leon, proposed the formation of a power-sharing government with a list of candidates for the new government. He nominated Fayez Sarraj, a member of the Tripoli-based parliament, for the position of prime minister.

The proposal for a national unity government was dismissed by the rival factions.

Libya has been struggling for stability since 2011, when the country’s former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown and armed groups and regional factions engaged in a conflict.

The capital, Tripoli, is controlled by a faction allied to powerful armed forces based in the city of Misrata. The faction has reinstated the previous parliament in the capital.

The internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni is based in the eastern city of Bayda, with its elected House of Representatives based in Tobruk.

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