Extremist fighters launched another offensive Wednesday on the airport in Libya’s Benghazi, the final redoubt in the eastern city of an ex-general who has been waging war on them.

Extremist fighters launched another offensive Wednesday on the airport in Libya's Benghazi, the final redoubt in the eastern city of an ex-general who has been waging war on them.

The fighters of the Shura Revolutionary Council, which includes Ansar al-Sharia group, have been trying since early September to capture the facility, which houses both civilian and military airfields.

On Wednesday, heavy artillery fire could be heard since dawn in the southern suburb of Benina, where the airport is located.

Nine soldiers from a special forces unit loyal to renegade former general Khalifa Haftar have been killed and another 30 wounded in the fighting over the past three days, according to one of their commanders.

Meanwhile, a senior militia commander and former MP has been killed in fighting with rival militias west of the capital Tripoli, one of his comrades and a medical source said.