Benghazi, April 11 (IANS): At least 10 soldiers of the Libyan army were killed and more than 40 wounded in fierce clashes in Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, medical and military sources told Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

"Benghazi medical centre on Friday received 10 bodies of army soldiers and 44 wounded soldiers with varying degrees of severity," a source in the Benghazi medical centre said.

The Libyan national army has made progress in Hawari axis south of Benghazi to retake the city from Islamist militants, a military source said.

Since mid-October, the Libyan army and forces loyal to retired Major General Khalifa Haftar are waging a war to retake the city of Benghazi, which had been held by Islamist militias since July.

Clashes are taking place daily in Sabri and Al-Laithi in downtown Benghazi, as army troops are fighting in the western and southern suburbs of the city where the Islamist militants are stationed.

Benghazi, the seedbed of the 2011 protests that toppled Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence since then.

The city is now plagued by assassinations, kidnappings and deadly clashes between different armed groups.