General Khalifa Haftar holds a news conference in Abyar, a small town to the east of Benghazi, on Saturday. (Reuters)

TRIPOLI: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Sunday urged Libyans to fight a rogue general pressing an offensive against militias in the country’s east, labeling him an “enemy of Islam.”

Just hours after the AQIM statement, ex-general Khalifa Hiftar’s forces launched fresh air raids on radicals in Benghazi, witnesses said, without any casualties reported.

“We call on you to unite to remove the symbol of treachery and apostasy, Khalifa Hiftar, and the supporters of (late dictator Moamer) Qaddafi who are under his command,” AQIM said in its online statement.

“…The traitor Hiftar has launched a war against Islam on the pretext of fighting terrorism,” it said. “We warn our Libyan brothers that the criminal Hiftar is carrying out a crusader plan against Shariah…”