Fighting in Sirte results in one of the heaviest tolls in
the month-long campaign to retake the city from ISIL fighters.
On Tuesday brigades said they had
taken control of parts of the "700" neighbourhood, the broadcasting
and electricity company headquarters and a mosque in Sirte [Reuters]
Fierce
clashes between Libyan forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant in Sirte,
ISIL's only stronghold in the country, have left at least 36 dead and almost
150 wounded.
Tuesday's
fighting resulted in one of the heaviest tolls in the month-long campaign by
the pro-government coalition of armed groups that is trying to retake the city
from ISIL fighters.
ISIL
had been fighting hard to defend the shrinking territory it still controls in
the residential centre of Sirte, said Abdalla Binrasali, a spokesman at the
forces' media centre in Misrata.
"The
resistance was fierce and they were firing with everything they've got,
mortars, rockets and rifles," he said. "They fear that if they lose
more ground they will be defeated."
Brigades
largely composed of fighters from Misrata launched an offensive to take back
Sirte from ISIL last month.
They
rapidly recaptured ground west of Sirte at the end of May, but their advance
slowed as they closed in on the centre of the coastal city.
On
Tuesday, fighting escalated and the brigades said they had taken control of
parts of the "700" neighbourhood, the broadcasting and electricity
company headquarters and a mosque.
The
"700" neighbourhood is strategically important because ISIL snipers
have been positioning themselves on the district's taller buildings.
The
brigades based in Misrata are aligned with a UN-backed unity government that
arrived in Tripoli in March.
It
is seeking to replace two other rival governments that were set up in Tripoli
and the east in 2014, and to unite Libya's many political and armed factions.
ISIL
took advantage of Libya's political turmoil to establish a presence in several
of the country's towns and cities from 2014.
It
took full control of Sirte, the hometown of the late Libyan leader Muammar
Gaddafi, last year, creating its most significant base outside Syria and Iraq.
However, the armed group has struggled to retain territory elsewhere in Libya.
Meanwhile, the state LANA news agency said an explosion at a depot on Tuesday in the town of Garabuli, near Tripoli, followed clashes with militias and killed 29 civilians.
Meanwhile, the state LANA news agency said an explosion at a depot on Tuesday in the town of Garabuli, near Tripoli, followed clashes with militias and killed 29 civilians.
According
to a statement on the Facebook page of the Qarabouli municipal council, the
clashes took place between militiamen in charge of the town security and armed
local protesters. When the protesters stormed the militia's barracks, the depot
exploded, the statement said. It said that the depot housed firecrackers, not
ammunition.
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