Dozens of soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in car bomb attacks and clashes between troops and Islamists around Benghazi airport, a Libyan army spokesperson said on Friday, as the UN threatened sanctions.

Dozens of soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in car bomb attacks and clashes between troops and Islamists around Benghazi airport, a Libyan army spokesperson said on Friday, as the UN threatened sanctions.

The Libyan army has declared a halt to military operations “on all fronts,” local media said on Wednesday, two days after rival parliamentarians at a UN-sponsored meeting called for a ceasefire in the troubled country.

Egypt has offered to train pro-government forces battling rival armed groups in Libya, stepping up efforts to eradicate what it says is a threat to its own stability from the anarchy engulfing its neighbour. The

Islamist-allied militias in control of the Libyan capital say they reject the United Nations’ call for a cease-fire. The announcement followed the first round of UN-brokered talks between Libya’s rival lawmakers on Monday.