Libyan Special Forces revealed the killing of 19 of its soldiers during the military operations conducted in February to liberate the areas controlled by the extremist groups in the city of Benghazi. It added, in a press statement issued on Thursday, that the clashes with the extremists in Qanfoda district during the last month led to the injury of 15 elements of the forces.

The Special Forces lamented the officers who received martyrdom during performing their role to cleanse their country from the extremist elements, expressing their condolences to their families. Source from Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries revealed the killing of the council’s media correspondent Essam Al Maghrabi during air raid from foreign jets targeting the strongholds of what it described as “revolutionaries”.

On the political side, Head of Libya’s Presidential Council Fayez Al Sarraj met with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the recent developments in the Libyan arena and the efforts exerted to achieve political solution for the Libyan crisis.

The Russian official welcomed the Libyan guest, praising his efforts aiming to achieve accordance between the different Libyan parties. He stressed his country’s keenness to restore security and stability in the divided country.

Lavarov stressed his desire to see a unified state in Libya depending on strong institutions and army, saying that it is the interest of the Libyan people to achieve such objectives. He stressed that a unified country in Libya will serve the regional security. He expressed solidarity with the Libyan people, stressing his keenness to help resolve the problems that the Libyan people suffer.

He added that the previous experiences proved the failure of the attempts aiming to impose solutions coming from abroad on the Libyan people, saying that the solution for the Libyan crisis should come from the Libyans themselves.

Sarraj, on his hand, stressed the strong relations between Russia and Libya, saying that his government is keen to resume the relations and to activate cooperation between the two countries in different economic, political and social fields.

He called the different political parties for respecting the political agreement and its repercussions, saying that the presidential council is keen to contact with the different parties to reach an agreement leading to a political solution for the Libyan crisis as soon as possible.

He stressed that the conflicting parties in his country should give the priority to the interests of Libyan people, saying that it is necessary for them to sit together to start a serious dialogue to pave the way for reaching a political solution. He stressed his confidence that the Russian government is able to perform such important role during the coming period due to its strong relations with the different Libyan parties.