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| Africa North |
| Libya unity forces bombard ISIS in bastion Sirte |
| 2016-06-11 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Forces loyal to Libya’s unity government bombarded ISIS group positions in Sirte with heavy artillery Friday, a day after thrusting into the holy warrior stronghold on the Mediterranean coast. The loss of Sirte, the hometown of ousted dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... , would be a major blow to the turbans at a time when they are under mounting pressure in Syria and Iraq. Forces aligned with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Friday they had targeted ISIS positions with artillery fire around a conference center where the turbans had set up a command post. GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western cities that have sided with the unity government of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj and the guards of oil installations that ISIS has repeatedly tried to seize. On Thursday a front man for the forces predicted Sirte could fall within days. "The operation will not last much longer. I think we’ll be able to announce the liberation of Sirte in two or three days," said Mohamad Ghassri. On Thursday warplanes bombed turbans positions in Sirte and the navy said it was in control of the waters off the city, located 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and held by ISIS since June 2015. ISIS has fed on the political and military divisions that have plagued Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Qadaffy. European nations fear that the turbans could use the city as a staging post for attacks on their soil. Sirte port said to be captured Tripoli, 10 June 2016: The Bunyan Marsus operations room set up by the Presidency Council (PC) last month says that the area Harawa, 75 kilomtres east of Sirte has been taken from forces of the so-called Islamic State (IS) and the road to Sirte is also now in anti-IS hands. In a further statement it further claimed that IS was now trapped within a 5-kilometre around Sirte. The day also saw air raids against IS positions in and around Sirte itself. There are also claims that Sirte port and a number of buildings in the town including the Mahari Hotel have fallen to Bunyan Marsous forces, and that the bodies of six executed IS fighters were discovered in the Saadi barracks, south of Sirte, captured earlier during the week. It is impossible to verify the full extent of the claims at present. However, Misrata Central Hospital reported that it had received the bodies of 11 fighters killed in the Sirte fighting today as well as treating 35 injured. For his part, Faiez Serraj as head of the PC has congratulated the operations room for its successes again IS, noting also that the latter was trapped and its members faced death. He also called on other military forces, meaning those currently supporting Khalifa Hafter, to unite and join the battle against IS. Meanwhile he also set up a third military operations room to lead action against IS south of Sirte. Led by Colonel Mohamed Ahmed Baheej, it will cover the area between Sirte and the Jufra region, centred on Waddan and Hun. Although the Bunyan Marsous operations room claimed its forces had taken Harawa, it was those under the second operations room, set up at the beginning of the month, that did so. Comprising in large part the central region Petroleum Facilities’ Guard, they have been moving slowly towards Sirte from the east having taken Ben Jawad and Nufliya. |
| Posted by:Fred |