BENGHAZI, Libya — After years of assassinations, bombings and militia firefights, Libya's eastern city of Benghazi finally feels safe again — but security has come at a heavy cost. But the city center lies in ruins, thousands remain displaced, and forces loyal to commander Khalifa Hifter, who now controls eastern Libya, have cracked down on dissent. Benghazi offers a glimpse of what may befall the capital, Tripoli, where Hifter's forces launched an offensive last month against rival militias loosely allied with a weak, U.N.-recognized government. They point out that even in the east, his forces rely on local militias as well as ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafists. Hifter's forces "prohibit all the media and journalists who are not loyal to it, and thus totally curtail all civilian state aspects in eastern Libya," it said.

Source: Libya Today May 21, 2019 12:05 UTC