4 Libyan army soldiers killed in fighting against extremists in Darna

TRIPOLI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Four soldiers of Libya's eastern-based army were killed and six others injured Thursday in a fighting against extremist groups in the eastern city of Darna, a military source said.

"Our forces launched a large-scale attack on southern Darna using heavy and medium weapons. Significant progress was made and the terrorists suffered great casualties," an officer of the army's Darna operations chamber told Xinhua.

"We lost four of our soldiers and six others were wounded. Most of the casualties were caused by landmines placed by terrorist groups as our forces advanced," the officer added.

Army commander General Khalifa Haftar in late April oversaw the final arrangements for taking over Darna from extremist groups, a few days after he returned from medical treatment in France.

Since 2015, Darna has been besieged by Haftar's army, which demands that the Shura Council of the Mujahideen in Darna, a coalition of Islamist militias seeking to implement Sharia law in the city, leave. The army accuses the armed group of being loyal to al-Qaida.

Earlier in April, Haftar announced that his forces would take over Darna "as demanded by the people." Enditem