Libyan forces in final push for Sirte

Troops loyal to UN-backed government enter the last ISIL-held areas in the city, but extremists counter with car bombs.

Members of the forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) fire at ISIL positions on August 28, 2016, in Sirte, during their military operation to clear the extremists from the city. AFP / MAHMUD TURKIAShow less

Sirte, Libya // Forces loyal to Libya’s UN-backed unity government on Sunday pushed into the last areas of Sirte held by ISIL in what was the extremists’ coastal stronghold.

The battle for the hometown of Libya’s slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi was launched more than three months ago by forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.

ISIL captured the city on the Mediterranean coast in June 2015, sparking fears they would use it as a launchpad for attacks on Europe.

Earlier this month, the pro-GNA forces seized the extremist’s headquarters in Sirte, pinning them down in a small area in the city centre near the sea.

“Our forces entered the last areas held by Daesh in Sirte: district number one and district number three,” a spokesman for the pro-GNA forces said.

“The final battle for Sirte has started.”

About 1,000 pro-GNA fighters were taking part in the offensive, he said.

Several tanks and armed vehicles moved towards district number one and heard gunfire and rocket explosions could be heard as they entered the northern neighbourhood.

At least 25 loyalists were killed on Sunday and 120 wounded, a field hospital for the pro-GNA forces said.

The bodies of two ISIL fighters lay on a street inside district number one, he said, adding that black smoke was rising from both districts.

The pro-GNA forces said the offensive came “after air strikes overnight” and as they pressed the assault the extremists countered with car bombs.

“The Daesh gangs committed mass suicide today when they sent five car bombs and a suicide bomber to try and stop our advancing forces,” the forces said.

Since August 1, US warplanes have backed the assault to expel ISIL from Sirte, and as of Wednesday, they had carried out 82 strikes, according to the US Africa Command.

The pro-GNA forces fought their way into Sirte on June 9 and two months later seized the ISIL headquarters at the Ouagadougou conference centre.

But their advance has been slowed by snipers, suicide bombings and booby traps.

Loyalist forces are mostly 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 ISIL has repeatedly tried to seize.

Ahead of Sunday’s assault, they prepared their tanks for inspection, cleaned their weapons and deployed on the outskirts of Sirte and around the two districts.

“We hope that God will help us defeat them,” one fighter, Osama Mohammad Mosbah, said.

Fighting erupted on Saturday on the edges of district number one between the extremists and loyalist forces armed with machineguns and rocket launchers.

Pro-GNA snipers deployed on the roofs of buildings whose facades were still painted with the ISIL black flag.

More than 370 pro-GNA fighters have been killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in the battle for Sirte since May.

ISIL took advantage of chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Qaddafi, where rival militias and authorities have vied for control.

A UN-brokered deal struck in December led to Mr Al Sarraj’s unity government taking office in the capital, but it has since struggled to fully assert its authority.

The presidential council headed by Mr Al Sarraj said on Wednesday it would present a new cabinet line-up in an attempt to secure the backing of parliament.

The legislature, which rejected a previous unity government in a vote on Monday, gave the council a “final chance” and 10 days to propose a new cabinet.

*Agence France-Presse