11 dead as Libyans rebel against Benghazi militias

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Libyan authorities retook control on Saturday of the headquarters and bases of militias in Benghazi after armed protesters attacked them overnight in violence that killed at least 11 people and wounded more than 70.

Six members of the security forces were among those killed in the unrest that rocked Libya's second city, in the wake of the murder of US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The security force members appeared to have been executed, a medical examiner at the Benghazi Medical Centre morgue told AFP.

"From the nature of the wounds it is clear that the six were executed," she said on condition of anonymity, addding that all six were shot in the head.

"In total we've received 11 fatalities" she said, including four bodies in 'civilian clothes' and another that was found at the headquarters of Raf Allah al-Sahati, an Islamist militia targeted overnight.

The violence erupted late on Friday when hundreds of protesters, some of them armed, attacked bases of paramilitary groups, former rebels who helped topple Moamer Kadhafi's regime in last year's rebellion.

Critics say militias in the eastern city have put themselves above the law, particularly those that refused to be placed under the authority of the defence ministry after the fall of the regime.

The protesters first attacked a group based in a security building in central Benghazi before turning their wrath on the headquarters of Ansar al-Sharia, a radical Salafist militia and the main paramilitary group in the city.

To shouts of "The martyrs' blood was not shed in vain," the demonstrators pushed into the compound which was pillaged and torched, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

Regular armed forces retook control of the two bases on Saturday, the correspondent said.

Ansar al-Sharia has been accused of - but denied - involvement in the murder this month of the four Americans in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11.

The militiamen took flight as hundreds of protesters stormed and then set their compound ablaze. They also evicted them from Al-Jalaa hospital where they were replaced by military police, an AFP correspondent reported.

Protesters also attacked the headquarters of the Raf Allah al-Sahati brigade, an Islamist group under the authority of the defence ministry, on the city outskirts.