A series of targeted murders have killed 14 people in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, security sources said on Saturday.

Within 24 hours from Thursday evening to Friday evening, a total of 14 people, including rights activists, journalists, members of the security forces and civilians, were killed, shocking Benghazi citizens with terror, a security official said on condition of anonymity, adding that among the dead was an Egyptian citizen.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the killings. But some local media blamed it on the armed Islamic groups.

Since August, most parts of Benghazi have fallen into control of the armed Islamist groups, including Shura Council and Ansar al- Sharia, which has been listed as an terrorist group by the United States.

Benghazi, the birthplace of the 2011 turmoil that toppled Libya 's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence since then. The city has been plagued with kidnappings, assassinations and terrorist attacks.

Earlier on Wednesday, unknown gunmen shot dead former air forces chief Ahmed Habib al-Mesmari in the al-Hadaek region of Benghazi.

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