Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:20:16
Libyan forces have said on Tuesday that they have taken control of one of the last districts in central Sirte occupied by ISIL terrorists .
Libyan forces said on Tuesday (August 16) that they had taken control of one of the last districts in central Sirte occupied by ISIL terrorists. Forces aligned with Libya's U.N.-backed government in Tripoli are three months into a campaign to oust ISIL from their former North African stronghold and have captured most of the coastal city.
Since Aug. The Libyan forces are mainly composed of brigades from the western city of Misrata. After they secured key sites south of central Sirte last week, fighting moved into neighbourhood Number 2, which the brigades said they had now captured. It was not yet clear how many had been killed and wounded in the fighting. ISIL took control of Sirte last year, turning it into a base for Libyan and foreign fighters and extending their control over about 250 km (155 miles) of Libya's Mediterranean coastline. But it has struggled to win broad support or retain territory in Libya, and losing Sirte will be a major setback for the terrorist group; Reuters reported.
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