World Bulletin / News Desk

A spokesman for Libya's former general Khalifa Haftar denied on Thursday media reports that the reneged general had fled Libya.

"Gen. Haftar has not left Libya and is currently preparing for a major military operation in Benghazi," his spokesman Mohamed al-Hegazi told Anadolu Agency by phone.

He, however, gave no details about the fresh offensive.

Media reports suggested earlier that Haftar had left to Egypt after his forces had been defeated.

Since mid-July, Haftar's forces have been fighting Islamist militias in Libya's restive eastern city of Benghazi.

Libya has been in turmoil since a bloody uprising ended the autocracy of long-serving ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.