Clashes continued on Friday (October 7) in Sirte's neighbourhood between pro-government forces and Islamic State (Daesh/ISIS/IS/ISIL) militants that control a residential strip less than 1km long in their former Libyan stronghold.

UN-backed forces, supported by U.S. airstrikes, are advancing building by building to finish a five-month-old campaign. Tanks pushed into neighbourhood Number Three exchanging with gunfire with militant snipers as fighters set up shooting points from buildings.

Over the past three days, Libyan forces led by brigades from Misrata have pressed further into Sirte's neighbourhood Number Three as an intensified aerial bombardment and a barrage of tank fire slowly dislodged militant sniper positions. Militants were clinging to an area called Manara, a sub-district that if ceded, Misrata commanders said, would leave them exposed to defeat in what was once the group's main base outside territory controlled in Iraq and Syria.

Losing control of Sirte is a major blow for ISIL, depriving it of the only city it held in North Africa. The terrorist group is also on the defensive against U.S.-backed campaigns in Iraq and Syria; Reuters reported.

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