Libyan forces push back Islamic State fighters in Sirte

Libyan forces are preparing for their final push to oust Islamic State from its former North African stronghold of Sirte.

 

The forces, mainly brigades from the city of Misrata, say they are close to capturing Sirte after taking most of the city in a three-month campaign and restricting militants to a shrinking residential area in the city center.

Since August 1, they have been supported by U.S. air strikes- a move that has accelerated the progress of Libyan forces, whose advance had been slowed by suicide bombings, snipers and mines.

Reuters video on Saturday (August 27) showed soldiers visiting areas and facilities newly captured from Islamic State, as others monitored neighborhoods still controlled by the militants.

Islamic State took control of Sirte last year, setting up a proto-state modeled on its practices in Iraq and Syria and enforcing its ultra-hardline rule on residents.

Losing the city would be a major blow for the group, although militants who escaped or are based elsewhere in Libya are expected to keep trying to exploit the country's political turmoil and security vacuum.

Sirte, the home town of toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the last big city to fall in the 2011 uprising that overthrew him, sits in the center of Libya's coast, midway between areas controlled since 2014 by rival governments in the east and west.

 

 

 

 REUTERS