TRIPOLI, Libya — A spokesman for a rogue Libyan general says his forces have attacked parliament to arrest Islamists there, but were met with resistance.

Mohammed al-Hegazi, a spokesman for Gen. Khalifa Hiftar, made the comments to Libya's Alahrar television station after heavy gunfire erupted Sunday outside the Libyan parliament.

Lawmakers say security officials evacuated them from the building out of fears it would be stormed.

A security official said the attackers also shelled a nearby military base controlled by an Islamist militia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Hifter is carrying out an offensive against Islamist militias in Benghazi, the country's second-largest city in the east. He says the authorities have no mandate and vowed to press on with his operation. Authorities have called it a coup.