- Title: Libyan forces advance against Islamic State holdouts in Sirte
- Date: 1st December 2016
- Summary: SIRTE, LIBYA (DECEMBER 1, 2016) (REUTERS) SOLDIERS WALKING DOWN STREET VARIOUS OF FIGHTERS GATHERED AROUND TANK IN FRONT OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS ARMED FIGHTERS GATHERED PEOPLE STANDING BY AMBULANCES VARIOUS OF FIGHTERS ON AND AROUND TANKS VARIOUS OF FIGHTERS LOADING WEAPONRY VARIOUS OF MEN WALKING NEAR TANK VARIOUS OF DIFFERENT TANKS DRIVING DOWN STREET, MEN STANDING NEARBY FIGHTERS STANDING ON TOP OF TANK, SMOKE RISING MORE OF TANKS DRIVING AMID DESTROYED BUILDINGS VARIOUS OF TANKS DRIVING THROUGH VARIOUS OF MEN SHOOTING THROUGH WINDOWS OF DESTROYED BUILDING VARIOUS OF MEN SHOOTING THROUGH SMALL HOLE IN WALL VIEW THROUGH HOLE IN WALL SHOTS BEING FIRED, SMOKE RISING VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM BEHIND DESTROYED BUILDINGS
- Embargoed: 16th December 2016 18:52
- Keywords: Libya ISIS Sirte advance
- Location: SIRTE, LIBYA
- City: SIRTE, LIBYA
- Country: Libya
- Reuters ID: LVA0015B20Z7R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Libyan forces continued their fight against Islamic State fighters in Sirte on Thursday (December 1) after facing fierce resistance on Saturday (November 26) from IS militants defending a final strip of land in their former North Africa stronghold.
Libyan forces have been battling Islamic State in Sirte for more than six months and have reduced the amount of ground held by its fighters to a small cluster of buildings near the city's Mediterranean Sea front.
Since August, the forces, led by brigades from the western Libyan city of Misrata, have been backed by U.S. air strikes.
Though Sirte was the only Islamic State-controlled city in Libya, the group has a presence in other parts of the country.
Islamic State took full control of Sirte early last year, extending its presence along about 250km (155 miles) of Libya's coastline.
Sirte's loss would leave the militant group without any territory in the North African country, though some of its fighters escaped during the early stages of the campaign and officials fear they will wage an insurgency from the south and west of the city.
The battle in Sirte comes as Islamic State is also on the defensive against U.S.-backed campaigns in Syria and Iraq, including in the biggest city of its self-declared Caliphate, Mosul. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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