Tripoli, Oct 9 (IANS/EFE): At least eight civilians were killed when rockets fired by a militia group slammed into a mosque in the Libyan town of al-Aziziya, security sources in the region told Spanish news agency Efe.

The victims were offering night prayers late Wednesday when at least 10 rockets hit the mosque. Along with the eight dead, an unknown number of worshippers were injured.

The security sources speculated that the attack might have been carried out by the Army of the Tribes, one of the militias that has emerged since the fall of the regime of Muammer Gaddafi in 2011.

Meanwhile, in the city of Benghazi, Salim Nabus, the leader of the Ansar al-Sharia militia was killed, along with a radio announcer and an air force colonel in separate shootings.

The Ansar al-Sharia militia was one of many such groups which fought to topple the former regime.

Libya is in the midst of a deep political and security crisis as state institutions have lost control of the country amidst fighting by militias and other armed groups.