A spate of targeted assassinations and clashes rocked Benghazi and Derna over the weekend.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the streets of Benghazi witnessed heavy fighting between the units from the national army’s Special Forces units and extremists militants from the jihadi group Ansar al-Sharia. The clashes left nine dead and dozens injured, including civilians.

BENGHAZI, Libya — It is exceedingly easy to get away with murder here. Just ask any Libyan: Who killed more than 50 police officers, soldiers and judges here and in the eastern city of Darna this year?

Violence in Libya stems from the lack of unifying ideology bringing the country together, especially after NATO, CIA and Pentagon destroyed most of the national institutions within the country, editor at the Pan-African News Wire Abayomi Azikiwe told RT.

At least nine are killed and 47 wounded in Benghazi as tensions deepen between government and armed groups.

Nearly two years have passed since the end of Colonel Qaddafi’s dictatorship, but all is not well in Libya. What began as a popular uprising – that later gained international support through UN Security Council Resolution 1973 – has now turned into a potentially toxic security vacuum.

The head of Benghazi’s Joint Security Room survived an assassination attempt on Monday (November 18th) after his motorcade was hit by a bomb blast.

The autonomy of militias and an inadequate security sector are threatening Libya’s stability and transition to democracy, warns Frederic Wehrey after returning from a trip to the country. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, Wehrey analyzed the worsening crisis …

This week saw the latest violence through militia over-reaction resulting in large-scale deaths and injuries, this time in Tripoli and involving the Misrata Brigade when on 15th November they opened fire on demonstrators protesting their presence in the Ghargour district of the city. 

Libya’s military swept into the capital Monday with dozens of pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns in an operation to drive out militiamen, the Associated Press reported.