The death toll from clashes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi has risen to 43 from 19 and more than 100 people had been wounded, a Health Ministry official said on Saturday.
Fighting broke out on Friday between irregular military forces and Islamist militants.
Residents said the situation was quiet on Saturday, while a retired Libyan general vowed to press a campaign to free Benghazi of "terrorist groups."
"The operation will continue until Benghazi is purged of terrorists," Khalifa Haftar told the broadcaster Libya Awalan of the country's second city, where the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi erupted in February 2011.
A precarious calm reigned in Benghazi after a deadly day that saw Haftar's forces target Islamist militiamen, using both ground and air power.
Local sources said mediation efforts were under way to try to ensure combat did not break out again.
Local sources said mediation efforts were under way to try to ensure combat did not break out again.
Early Friday, Haftar unleashed his forces on former rebel Islamist groups, vowing to rid Benghazi of a "terrorist" scourge.
The violence came weeks after the government in Tripoli acknowledged for the first time the existence of "terrorist groups" in Libya and said it was mobilizing against them.
Haftar heads a group calling itself the "National Army" which launched "a large-scale operation to flush terrorists out of Benghazi," spokesman Mohammed al-Hijazi said on Friday.
"This is not a civil war. It's an operation against terrorist groups," added Hijazi, who like Haftar was an officer in Gaddafi's army before defecting.
Haftar's forces pounded former rebel groups in the city, focusing in particular on Ansar Sharia, an organization designated by the United States as a terrorist group, according to the army.
The regular amy denied any involvement in Friday's clashes, and the government condemned the operation.
(Reuters, AFP)
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