Air strikes hit Benghazi

Air strikes hit three areas of the Libyan city of Benghazi, shortly after reports emerged of a ceasefire deal between former general Khalifa Haftar and a government crisis committee.

The strikes on Tuesday took place in the western part of the city, which has been targeted in the past by troops loyal to Haftar. 

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Tripoli, said that the airstrikes lasted for at least thirty minutes.

A source close to the armed group Ansar al-Sharia told Al Jazeera that the group had given Haftar supporters 72 hours, ending Tuesday, to leave the Benina area of Benghazi, close to the airport.

Earlier, sources in the Government Crisis Managing Committee, which includes tribal elders, the minister of justice and various brigades in Benghazi, told Al Jazeera that a truce deal had been reached with Haftar, a claim denied by Mohamed Hejazi, Haftar's spokesperson.

However, Reuters quoted Hejazi saying that Haftar had agreed to a truce brokered by a committee of wisemen during the national election on June 25.

Libya’s elections commission called the vote after parliament agreed to dissolve itself under popular pressure. Many Libyans blame lawmakers for the widespread lawlessness that has marked the country's transition towards democracy for the three years since a NATO-backed war removed Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. 

Haftar waged an offensive against fighters, or what he calls terrorists and extremists, in the east of the country for the last three weeks. He has vowed to crush Ansar al-Shariah, which he says the government has failed to control.

Al Jazeera and wires