A car bomb attack carried out by ISIS militants at the western entrance of Sirte on June 2
Sixteen Libyan troops have been killed in two separate attacks by ISIS militants in the last 24 hours as Albinyan Almarsous (Operation Strong Foundation) forces are preparing for a final battle against the extremist group who are encircled in 15 kilometre area inside of Sirte.
On Thursday, 10 soldiers were killed and seven injured after a suicide car bomb attack on a police station in Abu Grein, 130 kilometres west of Sirte.
“Ten dead and seven wounded were brought in… after a suicide attack carried out by Daesh (ISIS) in Abu Grein,” said a source at the central hospital in Misrata.
Libyan forces captured Abu Grein from ISIS militants on May 17, less than two weeks after the extremist group launched suicide attacks and overran the checkpoint. The surprise suicide attack prompted the unity government to establish its joint military operation in Misrata against the terrorist group’s stronghold in Sirte.
In addition, the media bureau for Albinyan Almarsous made a statement on Wednesday that it had lost contact with six soldiers who were on a scouting mission in the “700 neighbourhood” in Sirte.
The operations room said that the soldiers were found and killed by ISIS militants who had posted pictures of the bodies in the back of a pickup truck, and two of the killed soldiers in the photos were identified as belonging to Libyan forces.
The fast progress that the Libyan army was making against the extremist group has been hampered as troops besieged ISIS fighters inside the city earlier this week. ISIS militants are now launching a myriad of suicide attacks, mines, booby-trapped vehicles and ISIS snipers positioned on rooftops in densely populated neighbourhoods in retaliation.
The operations room’s Facebook page also said that two other ISIS car bombings targeting Libyan troops inside of Sirte were foiled on Thursday before reaching their intended locations.
