BENGHAZI: Sixteen people, most of them soldiers, were killed and 81 injured in clashes between the Libyan army and fighters in the eastern city of Benghazi, medical and military sources told AFP Tuesday.
"Most of the dead and injured are soldiers. Three civilians, including an Egyptian, were killed when a rocket hit their house," a hospital source said on condition of anonymity.
A military official said fighting broke out after an alliance of militia attacked an army barrack, killing five soldiers.
Special forces soldiers violently battled the fighters, who have held sway in Benghazi since a 2011 revolution which ousted and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, plunging the nation into turmoil.
Authorities in Tripoli accuse his "National Army" paramilitary force of trying to mount a coup.
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