Ouagadougou Conference Halls Complex has been controlled and made as the headquarters by IS terrorists since 2015 as the militants were using it as their operations building.
Advertisement
The GNA said on Monday that its fighters managed to capture a new sector near the Daesh command center, east of al-Dollar District in Sirte, following intense clashes with the Islamist militants.
“Our forces have complete control of the whole of the Ouagadougou (convention) complex – they even advanced some distance beyond the complex”, said Rida Issa, a spokesman in the forces’ media office.
A statement on the forces’ Facebook page declares that “Sirte is returning to Libya”.
Western powers are backing the GNA in a bid to bring stability to Libya, which has been wracked by turmoil since longtime dictator Kadhafi was ousted and killed in October 2011, with rival governments vying for power and armed groups battling to control vast energy resources.
Citing unnamed officers allied with the Libyan government and Western security officials, the Post also said American and British “personnel” in body armor and wearing military fatigues had been seen in Sirte several times.
The U.S. has conducted 29 airstrikes against ISIS in Libya since August 1, according to Africa Command.
Victory in Sirte, the hometown of the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, would cement recent gains against Islamic State and deprive the jihadist group of its only base outside Syria and Iraq.
The limited nature and size of US operations around Sirte reflect the delicate balancing act the Obama administration must achieve as it seeks to help allied local forces succeed while not undermining the country’s fragile unity government.
According to United States and Libyan officials, the U.S. forces are providing direct, on-the-ground support to forces loyal to Libya’s unity government in a fight against Daesh, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The U.S., Britain and France have all had special forces on the ground in Libya in preparation for increased cooperation.
Advertisement
A fighter of Libyan forces allied with the United Nations -backed government fires a shell with Soviet made T-55 tank at Islamic State fighters in Sirte, Libya, August 2, 2016. They confirmed having lost contact with a Libyan Air Force warplane, the second in the past two months.
