(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
Within the last four days, 37 airstrikes were fired at ISIS targets in Sirte as part of the US airstrike campaign in support of Libyan forces, according to the US military.
All except one airstrike were launched between Friday and Sunday raising the total number of airstrikes launched since the beginning of the campaign to 325, said the US military on Tuesday.
“At the moment, the forces are preparing to enter Ghiza Bahriya district,” said Rida Essa the spokesperson for the Libyan forces.
The US airstrike campaign began on August 1 after the Libyan unity government (GNA) issued a request for military support in combating ISIS in Sirte. The GNA however made it clear that it would not allow foreign troops to fight on Libyan soil.
Special forces from the US and some EU member states have also been assisting GNA loyal forces in Sirte by providing strategic military insight.
The Libyan army, which consists mainly of brigades from Misrata, were able to take control of an area in Sirte from ISIS on Sunday that had tunnels which ISIS fighters used to hide and regroup. The Libyan brigades also took control of a field hospital. Te bodies of ISIS fighters destroyed by US airstrikes were found in the area.
A recent statement made by the Libyan forces condemned the attempted coup by the General National Congress saying, “No forces or parties have the right to plot a coup on the legitimacy of the Libyan Political Agreement and the GNA.”