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| Africa North |
| Libyan forces battling IS in Sirte suffer losses in push to advance |
| 2016-07-17 |
| [Iraq Sun] Forces aligned with Libya's U.N.-backed government suffered losses from snipers and mines on Friday, July 15 as they battled Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... to win control of a strategic conference center in the coastal city of Sirte, according to Rooters. Islamic State is clinging on in the center of Sirte in the face of a two-month campaign by brigades mainly composed of fighters from the western city of Misrata. Their progress has been slowed by resistance from forces of Evil holed up in a 5 km area in central Sirte. Losing Sirte would represent a major setback for Islamic State, which established its most important base outside Syria and Iraq in the Libyan city. Sirte had been under the bad boy group's control since last year, and it had extended its presence along about 250 km (155 miles) of coastline. At least 20 members of the government-backed forces were killed and 120 maimed in fighting in Sirte on Friday, said Aziz Issa, a front man for the central hospital in Misrata, one of the higher tolls in recent weeks of fighting. A front man for the forces, Ahmed Hadia, said the latest festivities around the Ouagadougou conference hall complex and in the neighborhood of Ghiza Asskariya had been continuing for two days. "Our forces entered the complex and are fighting (but) they still cannot take the complex," he said. Militants had tried unsuccessfully to counter attack with three boom-mobiles, Hadia said. "The deaths among our forces on Friday were a result of targeting by snipers and of mines," he said. The Ouagadougou hall became a key site for Islamic State as it imposed its ultra-hardline rule over Sirte, using the center for meetings and religious instruction. The bad boy group expanded into Libya amid the political chaos and security vacuum that developed after long-time ruler Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... was toppled in an uprising in 2011. The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... -backed government moved to 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... three months ago in an attempt to unify two rival administrations and various armed factions. While the new government has so far received support from powerful brigades from Misrata, it has made little progress extending its influence nationally and has continued to face determined opposition from hardliners in eastern Libya. |
| Posted by:Fred |