IS launches wave of suicide attacks on Libya forces
Government of National Unity (GNA) look at smoke rising
from burning cars on August 16, 2016 as they hold a
postition in an area of central Sirte, known as District Two,
while fighting against Islamic State group (IS) group.
Libyan pro-government forces said they seized control of
District Two as they tried to flush out the last Islamic State
group fighters in the coastal city of Sirte. Dozens of US air
strikes this month have helped to weaken IS’s hold on Sirte,
which the jihadists seized last year and established as their
main base outside Syria and Iraq. / AFP PHOTO / STR
Islamic State group jihadists in Libya have carried
out nine suicide bombings in one day in a failed bid
to hold a central district of Sirte, pro-government
forces said Wednesday.
The attacks on Tuesday in the coastal city left nine
pro-government fighters dead and 82 wounded,
said Reda Issa, a spokesman for forces allied with
the unity government.
They took place as forces loyal to the Government of
National Accord (GNA), backed by US air strikes,
advanced on Sirte’s central District Two as part of a
three-month offensive to oust the jihadists from the
city.
An IS fighter blew up his vehicle close to a group of
soldiers and journalists, wounding several, said an
AFP photographer.
Five of the bombers attacked using cars, one on a
motorbike and three on foot, said the pro-GNA
forces, which published several photos of the
bombers’ corpses.
IS seized Sirte, 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of
Tripoli, in June 2015 and turned it into its North
African stronghold, but they now hold just a few
pockets of the city.
Pro-GNA forces launched an offensive in mid-May
to retake the city, which they entered on June 9,
facing heavy resistance as they moved towards the
centre.
The US Africa Command said Wednesday that it had
carried out nine more air strikes on IS targets in
Sirte on Tuesday in support of the pro-GNA forces,
bringing the total number to 57 since August 1.
Last week the pro-government fighters seized a
conference centre in the city used by IS as its
command centre.
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