Dozens of Libyans on Sunday stormed the building of the parliament in the capital Tripoli in protest against the extension of its mandate, the official Libyan News Agency reported, citing an official.
“The demonstrators had set fire in the vicinity of the National Congress (parliament) before storming its hall while members were in session,” the parliament’s spokesman Omar Humaydan said.
He added that some protesters were armed and attacked the members, some of them were later hospitalized.
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Earlier in the day, anti-parliament activists had blocked roads to the parliament to protest an attack by Congress’ supporters on protesting campers outside the building, local media reported.
The Congress, Libya’s highest authority, has recently extended by one year its mandate, which was originally due to expire in February.
Libya has in recent weeks seen mass protests against the parliament and the interim government due to a lack of security in the country.
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Gunmen Sunday shot dead a French man in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the restive city.
“The victim is a 49-year-old technician, who was shot by gunmen in the district of Ras Ebeida in central Benghazi,” an official at the city’s medical centre told dpa by phone. “He died of three shots.” The official added on condition of anonymity that the man had worked for a French company upgrading the city’s medical facility.
No one has claimed responsibility.
Four unidentified bodies were found Sunday in a forest east of Benghazi, reported LANA.
They were shot in the heads in what is believed to be execution—style killings, according to the report.
Last week, seven Egyptian Christians were found dead near Benghazi.
Benghazi, the birthplace of a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muamar Qadhafi, has seen frequent attacks by armed groups on security personnel and foreigners.
In 2012, the US ambassador and three Americans were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.
The North African country’s post-revolutionary rulers have been struggling to assert their authority, given the proliferation of weapons and militias since the ouster and killing of Qadhafi in October 2011.