Alalam - Libya

The forces said they pushed toward Sirte's Giza district, seizing a number of barricaded houses.

Sirte has seen intense clashes in the last few months between government forces and ISIS terrorists , who gained a foothold in the country following the power struggle and security vacuum left in the wake of the downfall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime in 2011.

Efforts to bring unity to the deeply divided North African country were dealt a major blow last month when the eastern Tobruk parliament voted "no confidence" in the UN-backed Tripoli government.

The ISIS terrorists took over Sirte more than a year ago, profiting from the chaos caused by power struggles among rival brigades of Libyan forces who once battled together to oust Gadhafi in 2011, but steadily turned against each other.

Forces from the western city of Misrata, allied with the UN-backed government in Tripoli, have been leading the battle to oust the ISIS terrorists from Sirte, helped since August by US air strikes, AP reports.

But they have faced fierce resistance from snipers, car bombs and booby-traps as ISIS terrorists dig in for house-to-house fighting in the last residential districts.

SA - 12