Libyan forces brace for suicide and sniper attacks in final push to oust IS militants from Gaddafi’s hometown Sirte

Forces allied to Libya’s unity government have entered the centre of Sirte, the coastal city held by Islamic State for about a year, removing black banners and toppling a platform used by the extremist group for crucifixions. The fall of Sirte, the hometown of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, would be a major setback for the extremists who have also lost territory in Syria and Iraq where they have declared an Islamic “caliphate”. US and other world powers support arming new Libyan government to fight Islamic State But the militants have barricaded themselves in the centre of their stronghold hoping to draw coalition forces fighting to dislodge them into a protracted street battle, a spokesman for the fighters loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), said. Brigadier General Mohamed al-Ghasrie said the militants had fallen back to a densely built-up area, with their snipers taking positions on rooftops waiting for the government-backed forces to advance. “Our forces are still progressing carefully to avoid exposure to suicide attacks, and we’re dealing with their snipers,” Al-Ghasrie said. “They’re still resisting but their days are limited in Sirte, their strength is collapsing and no one can save them.” US air raid hits Islamic State in Libya, killing 43 people At least 300 Islamic State fighters have died as coalition forces took control of several strategic sites including the city’s port and Qardabiyyah Airport on the outskirts of Sirte. They’re currently surrounding the Ouagadougou Hall, a complex used by the jihadist group for lectures, according to Al-Ghasrie. The jihadists are now surrounded in a densely populated area of around five square kilometres inside Sirte where they are laying booby traps, said a spokesman for the forces. Most of the city’s residents have fled but some 30,000 remain. Islamic State exploited a power vacuum in Libya after the country split between two rival administrations from 2014. The group seized Sirte the following year, though it has since lost control of the city of Derna and most of Benghazi to forces led by Khalifa Haftar, a powerful eastern military commander who opposes Libya’s unity government. After a month-long operation to close in on Sirte, the rapid pace of the advance by forces allied to the GNA who entered the city last Wednesday has surprised Libyan authorities. “The battle wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be,” one government official said. “Maybe we exaggerated their (IS’s) numbers?” Some militants from Sirte have reportedly shaven off their beards to escape Sirte when the Misrata militiamen began advancing on the city in tanks and pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. At the city’s main roundabout, the militiamen last week dismantled the metal frame of what some Sirte residents had dubbed the “stage of horror” — a podium used by IS for public beheadings during its yearlong reign over the city. Fires rage at Libyan oil ports after Islamic State attacks set huge tanks ablaze Driving IS out of Sirte would mean the dismantling of the extremist group’s strongest bastion outside Iraq and Syria, where the IS controls vast swaths of territory and a string of cities. An overall triumph over IS in Libya would rid Egypt of a serious security threat just beyond its porous western border and terminate what has been a key supply route for men and weapons headed to the group’s affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula. The IS presence in Libya has also been a source of concern to southern European nations, particularly Italy, Libya’s former coloniser. The UN envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, said Saturday on Twitter that he was “impressed” by the “rapid progress” of pro-GNA forces. France also hailed the advance and called for all political factions to unite against IS. But analysts have warned the city’s fall would not spell the end of the jihadists in Libya, where they have fed on political and military divisions since the 2011 uprising that killed Gaddafi. Foreign intelligence services estimate the extremist group has 5,000 fighters in the country, but its strength inside Sirte, which IS has held since June 2015, is unclear. Formed under a UN-backed power-sharing deal agreed by some Libyan lawmakers in December, the GNA has been working to assert its authority but has yet to receive the official endorsement of the country’s recognised parliament. The pro-GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western cities, notably Misrata, and the guards of oil installations that IS has repeatedly tried to seize. Emily Estelle, a North Africa and Middle East specialist with the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, said an estimated 2,000 fighters, primarily well-equipped Misrata militiamen, were engaged in the Sirte operation. The Misrata militiamen took part in the Nato-backed uprising five years ago against Gaddafi, who himself was found and killed outside Sirte. According to Estelle: “American and British advisers on the ground are likely helping” the Misratans. The forces allied with the GNA said on Thursday they expected to announce the liberation of Sirte in “two or three days”, after thrusting into the city centre. “We’re encouraged by the progress they’re making,” said US special envoy Brett McGurk, whose country has said it has small teams of special forces gathering intelligence in Libya. GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj called Friday on “all military forces to unite in the face of our common enemy... and to join the victorious forces”. But Ahmed al-Mesmari, a spokesman for forces loyal to a rival government based in the country’s far east, described the GNA forces as “illegitimate militias, loyal to an illegitimate government”. Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press

Libyan forces brace for suicide and sniper attacks in final push to oust IS militants from Gaddafi’s hometown Sirte

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Islamic State jihadists are surrounded in a densely-populated area of around five square kilometres where they are laying booby traps

Islamic State jihadists are surrounded in a densely-populated area of around five square kilometres where they are laying booby traps