DHAKA: Heavy fighting is ongoing in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, apparently between the armed group Ansar al-Shariah and irregular forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar.

A former army general, reports Al Jazeera.

Witnesses said on Monday that gunfire, which began the day before, could be heard across the city, particularly coming from a special forces army base in a western suburb of Benghazi.

Haftar is campaigning to rid Libya of fighters that he says the government has failed to control.

Suleiman El Dressi, a Benghazi resident in the area of the clashes, told Al Jazeera that two people had been killed as a result of explosions there.

‘Residents are at home and they are very scared, waiting for the clashes to be over,’ he said.

‘Central government cannot control anything happening here, in the east (of the country) they are hopeless and useless.’

On Sunday, a Libyan fighter jet under Haftar’s command attacked an Ansar al-Shariah base in Benghazi but did not hit the target, witnesses and a senior Libyan official told news agencies.

BDST: 1309 HRS, JUNE 02, 2014