Benghazi is undergoing a city-wide security presence since Monday morning, said eyewitnesses, adding that the so-called Sahawat (civilian militias affiliated with Dignity Operation) set up checkpoints in the residential areas after the clashes that erupted in western Benghazi and the advances made by Defend Benghazi Brigades.

The Libyan News Agency of Al-Thanni government reported the Interior Security Department’s Chief, Mohammed Al-Fakhiry as saying that he met with the backup forces of the army and police and formed security groups to prevail security in the city.

Likewise, the Commander of the Special Forces Unit of Haftar’s militias, Wanis Bu Khamada, ordered all special forces units in Benghazi to be on a high level of security alert, calling for readiness to eradicate what he describe as the terrorist sleeper cells in Benghazi and for preparing proactive attacks on the enemy.

In a statement that is worded very racially, the Libyan Federal Bloc called on the forces of the Defense Minister-designate at the UN-proposed government, Mihdi Al-Barghathi, and the forces of the Petroleum Facilities Guard to fight hand in hand with Khalifa Haftar’s forces to thwart what it named “the terrorist attack coming from the west of Libya.”

It is noteworthy that Defend Benghazi Brigades, which is led by Brigadier General Mustafa Al-Sharkasi and formed from a number of former revolutionaries from the city of Benghazi, said they gripped hold of many vital positions in western Benghazi, moving on toward the city center to liberate it from the coup plotters and the former regime henchmen.