The United Nations is to send a 235-strong special force to Libya to protect U.N. staff because of increasing attacks in the country, officials said Wednesday.

The U.N. Security Council has agreed a request by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send the force, China's U.N. ambassador Liu Jieyi said.

Suspected Islamic extremists destroyed a centuries-old shrine in the Libyan capital on Wednesday, but the tomb inside withstood the attack, witnesses said.

The explosives were placed around the mausoleum of Murad Agha, the first Ottoman governor of Tripoli, who ruled from 1551-1553. The shrine is attached to a mosque of the same name, which did not appear to have been damaged.

Three soldiers were shot dead in Libya's second city Benghazi on Wednesday and the bodies of two more were found in the nearby eastern town of Derna, officials said.

The latest violence came as Benghazi was on a three-day strike to protest against the country's unruly militias after a shootout on Monday between a jihadist group and the army left seven people dead and another 50 wounded.

Local officials called for civil disobedience including strikes for three days from Tuesday in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi after deadly clashes between radical Islamist fighters and the army.

The call issued by Benghazi's city council came as defense ministry officials, according to a source, were in talks with jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia to provide its fighters a safe passage out of the city on condition they leave their weapons behind.

Jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia attacked Libyan special forces Monday in the eastern city of Benghazi, sparking a battle in which at least eight people were killed and dozens wounded, officials said.

The bloodshed came a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry vowed to work with the international community to try to restore order in Libya which has been hit by growing unrest.

Gunmen on Saturday shot dead a former member of Moammar Gadhafi's security services in eastern Libya, in the latest violence to hit the region, an official said.

Unidentified men with assault rifles gunned down Fares al-Zarruk in a busy street in the center of Derna, a town that has been hit by mounting deadly unrest, the security official said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will Sunday head to London from Geneva where he is currently involved in talks with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, a spokesman said.

Kerry will "travel to London on November 24" for talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, Jen Psaki said Saturday.

Residents of Libya's capital were turning out Friday to press militias remaining in the city to follow others and withdraw, aiming to keep up the momentum following deadly clashes last weekend.

The city council and students union called for a "large demonstration," while the authorities urged people not to march on sites occupied by militias, to avoid confrontations, and vowed to ensure security.

Libyan militias including two groups from the western city of Zintan have withdrawn from the capital in response to public pressure nearly a week after deadly violence, they said Thursday.

The Al-Qaaqa Brigade said it had handed back to the authorities a site it had occupied and pulled out of the city with its weapons and vehicles, including tanks.

The U.N.'s human rights office Tuesday condemned violence involving militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli and urged the country's government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"We condemn the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.