More than 1,000 inmates have escaped from a jail in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

A security official from the jail told the AP news agency that most of the escapees were facing serious charges.

More than 1,000 inmates have escaped from a jail in the Libyan city of Benghazi

Benghazi is one of the most unstable parts of post-revolution Libya. Last year the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed there.

It is not clear whether the jailbreak was part of ongoing political unrest in the city.

Earlier protesters attacked offices linked to the Muslim Brotherhood following the assassination of the prominent political activist Abdelsalam al-Mismari.

They stormed offices of the Justice and Construction Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing.

A retired air-force colonel and a senior police officer were also shot dead on Friday in Benghazi, in the latest in a series of targeted killings of security personnel.

Libya’s government is struggling to control armed groups nearly two years after Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was toppled.