BENGHAZI — Random shelling of residential areas in the restive eastern Libyan city of Benghazi has killed eight people from one family, including seven children, officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack late Thursday. It came days after an operative from Libya's Daesh (the so-called IS group) affiliate was killed in fighting in this city, where clashes have been raging for nearly a year. Ashraf Al-Saiti, a senior medical official at Benghazi's Al-Jala hospital, said the family's home in Al-Salam District came under intense shelling from the nearby Al-Sabri neighborhood, a stronghold of extremists. The children killed were between five and 10 years old, he said. Earlier this week, three children were killed and several civilians were wounded when a dozen mortar shells struck the neighborhood of Baloun in central Benghazi, officials said. The shelling appears to be linked to Monday's killing of 19-year-old Daesh operative Ali Al-Barghathi, also known as Farouk Al-Barkawi, who returned from Syria where he had joined the militant group in 2013, said intelligence official Jibril Mustafa. — AP
