Libyan forces ‘retake Sirte port from IS militants’

FORCES allied with Libya’s unity government said on Saturday they had recaptured the port in the jihadist stronghold of Sirte from Islamic State group fighters encircled inside the city.

The fall of Sirte, the hometown of ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi, would be a major setback for the extremists who have also lost territory in Syria and Iraq where they have declared an Islamic “caliphate”.
The Libyan forces also retook residential areas in the east of Sirte, which for the past year has been the main IS base in the North African country, a spokesman for the forces, Rida Issa, told AFP.
The jihadists are now surrounded in a densely populated area of around five square kilometres inside the city where they are laying booby traps, he said.

Most of the city’s residents have fled but about 30,000 remain, he said. After a month-long operation to close in on Sirte, the rapid pace of the advance by forces allied to the Government of National Accord (GNA) who entered the city on Wednesday has surprised Libyan authorities.
“The battle wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be,” a government official said.
The UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, said Saturday on Twitter that he was “impressed” by the “rapid progress” of pro-GNA forces.
Foreign intelligence services estimate the extremist group has 5,000 fighters in Libya, but its strength inside Sirte, which IS has held since June 2015, is unclear.
IS fighters tried to wrest back the port on Saturday in an attack that killed two members of the GNA forces, who repelled the assault.
Libya’s unity government forces have fought fierce street battles with the jihadists around a sprawling Kadhafi-era conference centre which once hosted international summits but now houses an IS command.