TRIPOLI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Air force of Libya's eastern-based army on Saturday launched an airstrike on positions of the rival UN-backed government forces near the city of Gharyan, some 80 km south of the capital Tripoli.

"The air force targeted positions of the Gharyan Protection Force, killing two of the militias (government forces) and destroying a number of their vehicles," said the eastern-based army's information center.

No statement has been issued so far by the UN-backed government regarding the airstrike.

A few days ago, the UN-backed government's forces announced that they had stopped an attack of the eastern-based army near Gharyan.

Later last month, the UN-backed government's forces took over Gharyan city and expelled the eastern-based army.

The UN-backed government has been engaged in a deadly armed conflict since early April in and around the capital Tripoli against the eastern-based army, which is trying to take over the city and overthrow the UN-backed government.

The eastern-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, is allied with the eastern-based government, as the North African nation is politically divided between eastern and western governments.

Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Enditem

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