Toll escalates to 450 in Libya clashes

At least 450 people were killed in violent clashes in Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, officials said Sunday.

"The people killed include civilians hit by random shelling and shooting in the areas of the clashes, as well as armed civilians who participate with the retired general Khalifa Haftar's forces," a medical worker at a hospital said.

He added that the toll included "the Islamist fighters whose bodies were transferred to the city's hospitals," Xinhua reported.

A spokesman for Benghazi Medical Centre announced that the hospital has received more than 400 bodies, mostly soldiers, since mid-October.

The number of bodies received by other hospitals in eastern Libya is about 49.

A joint statement of the Libyan Red Crescent Society and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the violence has forced more than 10,000 families to leave Benghazi.

Since Oct 15, the Libyan army and forces loyal to retired Major General Khalifa Haftar are waging a war to restore the city of Benghazi which had been held by Islamist militias.