TRIPOLI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Libyan army forces on Saturday seized control of the town of Bersis in eastern Benghazi, the second headquarters of the Deputy Interior Minister of the UN-backed government Faraj Eg'em, according to military sources.
"After taking over the first headquarters of Faraj Eg'em in Budzira district in Benghazi, the army forces advanced and took over the town of Bersis, the second headquarters of Eg'em in eastern Benghazi," the sources said.
Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that a battalion of the army "broke into the area of Bersis and burned the gate where Eg'em's forces were stationed."
"Eg'em's house in the area was also destroyed with heavy artillery, and the area is now completely empty," the eyewitnesses added.
The military sources confirmed that Eg'em "was present during the storming of the army to the area and later disappeared along with his family."
Eg'em's headquarters on Friday were attacked by a rocket-propelled grenades, killing three security personnel and injuring nine others.
Eg'em's convoy was also attacked last week, killing one security guard and injuring four others.
Speaking to a local TV channel on Friday, Eg'em accused the army of carrying out the attack. He also demanded that Bokhmada, the army's special forces commander, to replace the current army commander General Khalifa Haftar.
Following Eg'em's statement, the army on Saturday stormed his headquarters in Benghazi, confiscated all the military vehicles inside it, and besieged his forces which fled to the nearby town of Bersis.
Despite signing a UN-sponsored peace agreement by the country's political rivals and appointment of the Government of National Accord in 2015, Libya remains politically divided amid insecurity and chaos.
