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.