200 people killed in Benghazi mine explosions in 2017

31 Décembre 2017

Tripoli, Libya, December 31  (Infosplusgabon) - Some 200 civilians and soldiers were killed in landmines, explosives and remnants of war in the eastern city of Benghazi in 2017, the Arab Armed Forces military engineering unit said on Sunday.

"The mines killed 197 civilians and soldiers, including 27 military engineering experts, who died trying to dismantle and defuse mines in some areas of armed clashes. Seven others were seriously injured," said the commander of the unit, Abdelsalam al-Mesmari.

He was quoted by local media on Sunday as saying that most deaths occurred in al-Quaresh, Souk al-Hout, Qanfouda and al-Sabri areas in Benghazi.

Reports say that a number of Benghazi neighborhoods are still suffering from the proliferation of mines and explosives, which were planted by terrorist groups during combat operations with the armed forces before the liberation of the city.

Eight months of armed conflict after the February 17 revolution that overthrew Moamer Kadhafi's regime in 2011 turned the country's regions into mine-infested fields.

Benghazi, where the revolution began, has seen a war between armed forces, led by Marshal Khakifa Haftar, and extremist armed groups allied with Daesh since 2014 who planted the mines in the areas they control before the city was liberated.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/TRF/GABON 2017

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