International News

TRIPOLI, (APP/AFP) – Forces allied with
Libya’s unity government said Saturday they had recaptured the
port in the miltants stronghold of Sirte from Islamic State group
fighters who are surrounded inside the city.
The forces also retook a residential area in the east of
Sirte, the main IS base in the North African country, a spokesman
for the forces, Rida Issa, told AFP.
The fall of Sirte, the hometown of ousted dictator Moamer
Kadhafi, would be a major setback to the extremists who have also
lost territory in Syria and Iraq.
Libya’s unity government forces are waging fierce street
battled with the militants around a sprawling Kadhafi-era conference
centre which once hosted international summits but now houses an
IS command centre.
Warplanes have carried out air strikes around the centre
and other IS positions inside the city, according to social media
accounts belonging to the anti-militants operation.