Random shelling kills 8, including 7 children in Libya's Benghazi

Eight people were killed, including seven children, and 10 others were injured on Thursday when random shells hit a residential area in eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, medical and security sources told Xinhua.

"At least eight people were killed, including seven children, and 10 others were injured when random shells hit Hay Assalam in central Benghazi," Tareg Al-Kharraz, spokesman of the Interior Ministry said.

An official of Benghazi's Al-Jala hospital confirmed the casualties.

Khalid Al-Aguri, an official in the city's central police station, accused IS affiliated militants and Ansar Al-Sharia, a militant group considered by United Nations Security Council as a terrorist organization, of being "responsible for shelling civilities."

On early Wednesday, a similar attack killed five civilians and injured 10 others in several neighborhoods in the city.

Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the birthplace of 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence since then. The city has been plagued with violent clashes between different rival armed factions.

Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who played a major role in toppling Gaddafi in 2011, has launched a military operation called "Operation Dignity" against Islamist armed militias in May 2014. The operation has gained support from Libya's internationally recognized government. Endit