US-backed forces in Libya advance in Sirte

Описание: (11 Aug 2016) US-backed forces in Libya have liberated "70 percent" of the city of Sirte, the Islamic State group's last bastion in the North African country, a Libyan official said on Thursday.
The US-backed forces seized several strategic locations over the past 24 hours under the cover of US airstrikes, the official said.
Mokhtar Khalifa, the Sirte mayor, told The Associated Press that the city's southern and western sections are under control of the Libyan fighters loyal to the U.N.-brokered government in Tripoli, the country's capital.
The general estimate of the numbers of IS militants remaining in Sirte is in the hundreds, he added.
The pro-government forces have had 16 dead since the last round of fighting started on Wednesday morning and more than 70 wounded, mostly by sniper fire and a suicide car bombing.
Libyan pro-government forces have lost hundreds of fighters since the Sirte offensive started.
IS seized Sirte, the hometown of Libya's former dictator Moammar Gadhafi, in 2015 and Libyan pro-government forces launched an operation to retake it in June.

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