CAIRO, Oct 15 (Aswat Masriya) – Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef denied on Wednesday that Egyptian warplanes are "bombing targets" in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi.

The Associated Press news agency reported on Wednesday that Egypt is bombing "positions held by Islamist militias" in Benghazi. It added that the shells were part of a "large-scale operation to rid the city of militants," citing anonymous officials whom it said "have firsthand knowledge of the operation."

Militant fighting in Libya has recently intensified in measures unprecedented since the overthrow of late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Army general Khalifa Haftar declared war on Islamist forces within Libya since May. 

Forces in the Libyan City of Misrata blamed Egypt and the United Arab Emirates for airstrikes which targeted the Libyan capital on August 23.

In a meeting with newspapers' chief editors the next day, Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi denied that Egypt has conducted any military operations outside its borders "as of yet," reported state-run news agency MENA.

In an interview with Reuters in May, Sisi referred to Libya as a "security threat" Egypt faces, especially in regards to combating terrorism.