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| Africa North |
| Libya Pro-Govt Forces Attack Last ISIL Bastion in Sirte |
| 2016-09-04 |
| [ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Forces loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) said Saturday they have launched a new attack on diehards of the ISIS Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... group in the coastal city of Sirte. Backed by weeks of US air strikes, the pro-GNA forces have recaptured nearly all of what had been the Takfiris’ main stronghold in North Africa. "We are attacking the last ISIS positions in district three," a GNA fighter told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. The GNA forces media centre confirmed on their Facebook account that the attack had begun. "Our forces are advancing inside the areas where ISIS is, in district three, and so far have taken control of" two banks and a hotel, the media centre said. It also said they had thwarted an attempted suicide kaboom. One pro-government fighter had been killed, the Misrata hospital’s Facebook page said. An AFP journalist saw ambulances leaving Sirte -- hometown of dead dictator Moamer Qadaffy -- for Misrata to the west. The forces loyal to the UN-backed GNA had said last weekend they were preparing to "liberate" the entire city after seizing several IS positions, including its headquarters. On Wednesday, GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj visited Sirte for the first time since loyalist forces launched their offensive more than three months ago to drive the Takfiris from the city. Sarraj and some of his ministers toured former front lines as well as the Ouagadougou conference centre which IS had used as its base. "We will continue to chase, with the help of God, the ISIS remnants and strike them wherever they may be in our country," Sarraj said this week. The view from Libyan Herald Tripoli, 3 September 2016: The outcome of the battle for Sirte is not in doubt but IS is proving no less deadly in its death throws. Ten Bunyan Marsous fighters died today in a renewed assault on the terrorists’ remaining positions. At least 30, one report puts the figure as high as 70, other fighters were injured. The terrorists are still resorting to the much-feared car bombs but one attempt today was blown up by ground fire before it could reach its target. Snipers and booby traps continue to reap a grim harvest of dead and injured. Among the slain today was the oldest fighter in the BM ranks, Ali Edaib, aged 80. The death toll among the largely Misratan attackers is now approaching 500. The fighting today was in the town’s Number One district with some mopping up in the Third district. Both are largely residential. The BM media office said that the bodies of ten terrorists had been found in a school. It is not clear how they were killed. In what must be a disturbing development for BM commanders, last night a roadside IED on the highway between Misrata and Sirte, destroyed a passing BM vehicle and killed two of the occupants. |
| Posted by:Fred |