Libyan parliament suspended after assault on lawmakers

Militants have announced the suspension of the Libyan parliament after they assaulted lawmakers.

Col. Mukhtar Fernana, speaking on behalf of assailants loyal to a retired general, announced on Sunday night that the country's constitutional assembly should take over the parliament and that acting Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni's government would serve as care-taker cabinet until new general elections are held.

The militant group loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar launched an assault on Libya's parliament Sunday afternoon, and some of the militants dashed into the parliament building to expel the lawmakers, forcing a session to adjourn.

Crossfire erupted near the parliament building and the roads from and to Tripoli International Airport, leaving two people dead and more than 60 injured, according to officials from the Ministry of Health.

Haftar led his self-proclaimed "national army" into Libya's second largest city of Benghazi at dawn on Friday in order to purge the city from "terrorists," leaving at least 79 dead and around 140 wounded, local media reported.

Fernana said Sunday's attack on parliament was not a coup, but "a correct way following the revolutionary spirit," adding the country can't be a hotbed or an incubator for terrorism.

In response, Libya's interim government defined Haftar's action as a " coup," and Libyan Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani on early Monday condemned Fernana's statement as "expression of political opinion by using armed force."

The North African country has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence and become a major base of extremists since the downfall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.