High Toll for Libyan Troops Battling Daesh in Sirte
Local Editor
At least 34 Libyan fighters were killed and more than 180 wounded on Sunday as they closed in on the last Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri terrorist "ISIS" group] militant holdouts in the coastal city of Sirte, according to field hospitals.
Forces aligned with Libya's UN-backed government, supported since Aug. 1 by US air strikes, pushed militants back into a small residential area in central Sirte in a three-month-old campaign.
Heavy fighting resumed on Sunday after a one-week lull.
The Libyan brigades, mostly from the city of Misrata, said they are close to victory in Sirte, but they have struggled to defend themselves against suicide bombings, sniper fire and landmines.
On Sunday several brigades stationed close to Sirte's seafront advanced several hundred meters eastwards through Sirte's neighborhood Number One, while other fighters overran Daesh positions in street-to-street fighting to the south.
Fighters used tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns to try to blast through Daesh sniper positions.
The Misrata-led brigades said there had been five attempted car bombings on Sunday in a "desperate attempt to disrupt the advance", though at least one of the bombs had been destroyed before it could reach its target.
The front lines in Sirte were quieter earlier this week as government-led forces said they were giving time to the wives and children of Daesh terrorists to leave the battle zone.
Almost all the city's estimated 80,000 residents left after Daesh took full control of the city last year, turning it into its regional stronghold and expanding its presence along about 250 km [155 miles] of coastline.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
