Tue May 31, 2016 16:39:52
A force that controls oil terminals in eastern Libya said it had captured the town of Ben Jawad from ISIS, pushing the militant group back along a coastal strip they control east of their stronghold of Sirte.
Spokesman Ali al-Hassi said five Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) fighters had been killed and 18 wounded in fierce clashes in the coastal town, and that fighting was continuing in the nearby town of Nawfiliyah.
A Ben Jawad resident told Reuters that PFG forces had entered the town and were combing the area to secure it. If the PFG can hold Ben Jawad it could prove significant, signaling the start of a new front in the campaign against ISIS.
The PFG has declared its support for Libya's U.N.-backed unity government. Other brigades that back the government advanced last week to the outskirts of Sirte from the west.
"We launched today's attack to purge and liberate the central region from Daesh (ISIS), and secure this area under the umbrella of the ministry of defense and the Presidential Council, the Supreme Commander of the Libyan army," Hassi said.
The Presidential Council is the unity government's leadership.
Western states hope the unity government, which arrived in Tripoli at the end of March, can resolve Libya's political crisis and bring together armed factions to fight ISIS.
ISIS took advantage of the security vacuum in Libya to seize control of Sirte last year, extending its presence along about 250 km (155 miles) of coastline either side of the city.
In January the group announced it had established full control over Ben Jawad, about 150 km east of Sirte. It also attacked the oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, a little further east, clashing with the PFG and causing extensive damage, Businessinsider reported.
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