CAIRO, Jul 14 (Aswat Masriya) -A mortar shell fell in Benghazi, Libya and injured nine civilians, including three Egyptians, on Wednesday night, the state-owned MENA news agency reported.

Fadia al-Burghathi, the media officer of al-Galaa hospital, which received the patients, said that they have been injured by shrapnel and that their injuries range from mild to more serious, MENA reported.  

The hospital has provided the patients with first aid, and is keeping them under medical observation, al-Burghathi said.

Violence has intensified in Libya particularly since 2014, when conflicting parties sought to take control of the country.

Egyptians residing in Libya have been caught up in the country’s internal conflict which has recently proliferated.

Accordingly, Egypt has repeatedly warned against travel to Libyan territories and called for Egyptians living in Libya to exercise extreme caution.

Last January, Egypt received 20 Egyptian nationals who were held captive by Libyan militia groups.

In Feb. 2015, Islamic State fighters in Libya abducted and beheaded 20 Egyptian nationals in the city of Sirte, releasing a video of the beheading afterwards. 

In response, Egypt launched airstrikes in Libya in the same week of the video's release. The Egyptian military said in a statement the strikes targeted training sites and weapons and ammunition storage sites belonging to ISIS fighters in the country.