The Sunday News
Tripoli – Forces allied with Libya’s unity government said on Saturday they had recaptured the port in the jihadist stronghold of Sirte from Islamic State group (ISIS) fighters encircled inside the city.The fall of Sirte, the home town of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, would be a major setback for the extremists who have also lost territory in Syria and Iraq where they have declared an Islamic “caliphate”.
The Libyan forces also retook residential areas in the east of Sirte, which for the past year has been the main ISIS base in the North African country, a spokesperson for the forces, Rida Issa, told AFP.
The jihadists are now surrounded in a densely populated area of around five square kilometres inside the city where they are laying booby traps, he said.
Most of the city’s residents have fled but about 30 000 remain, he said. After a month-long operation to close in on Sirte, the rapid pace of the advance by forces allied to the Government of National Accord (GNA) who entered the city on Wednesday has surprised Libyan authorities.
“The battle wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be,” a government official said. “Maybe we exaggerated their (ISIS’s) numbers?”
The UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, said Saturday on Twitter that he was “impressed” by the “rapid progress” of pro-GNA forces. – News24
