Libya forces say pushing back Islamic State fighters

Record ID: 103100

  • Title: Libya forces say pushing back Islamic State fighters
  • Date: 18th May 2016
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF TROOPS CELEBRATING AND STANDING ON A VEHICLE PILED WITH THE BODIES OF DEAD ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTERS
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2016 19:55
  • Keywords: Islamic State LIbya Sirte Abu Grain
  • Location: ABU GRAIN, LIBYA
  • City: ABU GRAIN, LIBYA
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0024IC75MV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL (SHOT #20)
    Forces loyal to Libya's U.N.-backed unity government pushed Islamic State fighters back towards their stronghold of Sirte on Wednesday (May 18), regaining more ground they had lost to the militants earlier this month, a military spokesman said.
    In a statement to the press from the streets of Abu Grain, spokesman Mohamed al-Gasri said the forces had pushed Islamic State fighters out of the small town and two nearby villages after heavy fighting.
    "The advance began from Asdada bridge to Abu Grain and into the town, and last night we entered into al Washka and Abirat al Hosoun (nearby villages) that lie some 60 to 65 Km from Sirte," said al Gasri.
    Western powers are counting on the new government to unify Libya's political and armed factions to take on Islamic State. The government arrived in Tripoli in late March and is still trying to establish its authority.
    Islamic State gained control over Sirte last year and has built up its most important base outside Syria and Iraq in the Libyan coastal city. However, it has struggled to hold on to territory elsewhere in Libya.
    Islamic State militants overran the town of Abu Grain and several villages after staging suicide attacks against checkpoints in the area on May 5.
    The unity government then created a new operations room in Misrata, which announced a campaign to recapture Sirte.
    Abu Grain is about 140 km (85 miles) west of Sirte and about 100 km south of Misrata.
    Two members of the military forces were killed and 15 wounded in Wednesday's fighting, Misrata hospital spokesman Aziz Issa said. The advance came a day after military forces retook Abu Grain checkpoint.
    A report published on Wednesday by campaign group Human Rights Watch found that Islamic State in Sirte had unlawfully executed at least 49 people accused of offences including spying, sorcery, and blasphemy over one year from February 2015.
    It quoted a military intelligence officer in Misrata as saying Islamic State had some 1,800 fighters in Sirte and that at least 70 percent of them were foreign.
    Some two-thirds of the city's residents have fled, the report said.
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