Libyan forces clear last Islamic State holdout in Sirte

Libyan forces have finished clearing the final district of the former Islamic State stronghold of Sirte in which the jihadist group had been holding out, a spokesman for the forces said on Tuesday.

A Reuters witness said fighting had ended in Sirte's Ghiza Bahriya area, where Islamic State, also known as Isis, had been dug in for weeks at the end of a battle for the city that began in May.

Spokesman Rida Issa said forces led by brigades from Misrata and backed by US air strikes had "secured all the buildings and the streets" in Ghiza Bahriya, though this did not mean the end of the Misrata-led operation. "We still need to secure the area around Sirte," he said.

French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: “This is very good news. The defeat of Daesh [Islamic State] is a very strong act, but it can only be seen as a step . . . the militias that have freed Sirte deserve to be congratulated.”

Libyan and Western officials say some Islamic State fighters escaped from Sirte before the battle or in its early stages. They fear an insurgent campaign from outside the city and there have been attacks in outlying areas.

Islamic State took over Sirte in early 2015, turning it into their most important base outside the Middle East and moving large numbers of foreign fighters into the city.

The militant group imposed its ultra-hardline rule on Sirte’s residents, extending its control along about 250km (155 miles) of Libya’s Mediterranean coastline.

The Misrata-led forces counter-attacked in May after jihadists moved along the coast towards the city.

The brigades, nominally aligned with a UN-backed government in Tripoli, advanced rapidly towards the centre of Sirte before suicide bombers, snipers and mines largely halted their progress.

Since August 1st, the US has carried out at least 495 air strikes against Islamic State in Sirte.

In recent days dozens of women and children, some of them migrants from sub-Saharan Africa held captive by Islamic State, had escaped or had been released from militant-held ground.

A further group of women and children emerged on Tuesday as forces secured the final few buildings in Ghiza Bahriya, Mr Issa said. Six Islamic State fighters were killed or captured, he said.

Reuters