(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous forces were able to secure central Sirte, an area that ISIS fighters have been holding on to for months as the final remnants of its former North African base, said a spokesperson for the Libyan forces.
Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous now “control all of Sirte’s Ghiza and Bahriya neighbourhood,” said Rida Issa, spokesperson for the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous forces.
Although Sirte has not yet been officially liberated of ISIS, over a dozen ISIS fighters surrendered themselves to the Libyan brigades, according to officials.
The terrorist group moved into Sirte, which had a population of 80,000, in 2015 and managed to establish a stronghold in the coastal city. ISIS had aims to expand its rule across Libya and eventually to Europe.
The terrorist group was able to make its way into Sirte after Libya fell into political chaos following the 2011 uprising that brought down the Gaddafi regime.
Libyan forces launched an offensive against ISIS in May and for the last six months have been successful in crushing ISIS’s dream of expanding across Libya and beyond.