US -backed Libyan militias say they have taken over the headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Sirte, the militants’ final bastion in Libya.
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Fighters also captured Sirte’s hospital and university complex, he said.
A rival government in Libya’s east, which is also fighting Islamic State, now contests the authority of the internationally backed government in Tripoli.
US-backed Libyan fighters say they have taken over Islamic State’s headquarters in Sirte, the Islamist militants’ final bastion in Libya.
The United States Department of Defense, Pentagon, confirmed, on Wednesday morning, the circulating news about the existence of American forces in Libya to participate in the efforts of fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in Sirte.
The troubled North African nation spiraled into chaos after longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted and killed in October 2011, with two governments vying for power and armed groups battling to control vast energy resources.
The operations centre also said pro-GNA forces had lost contact with one of their military planes, without providing further details.
On Thursday they removed IS flags from the conference centre and the university, burned them and replaced them with Libyan flags, said their command centre.
ISIL said it shot down the jet, killing a pilot, according to a statement on a website close to the group.
Capturing the Ouagadougou centre has been the key goal of pro-GNA forces as they have battled for weeks to oust IS militants from Sirte, which the jihadists seized in June a year ago amid the chaos that followed the 2011 ouster of Moamar Gaddafi.
On August 1, the U.S. launched airstrikes in Sirte after the GNA requested military aid.
Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) has announced the strikes, but has denounced the presence of foreign troops as “violation” of the country’s sovereignty.
Libyan fighters were seen advancing towards a hotel and guest houses near the city’s port and they were involved in intermittent firing with IS, Rida Issa, a spokesman for Sirte operation told Reuters.
The newspaper said that the USA forces are operating alongside the British troops, and are helping to coordinate the American airstrikes and providing intelligence to partner forces.
In a statement issued by the Tobruk government on Tuesday, the eastern government called for the replacement of the UN’s envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, who they said had “imposed” the leadership of the GNA upon the country, including Prime Minister-Designate Fayez Serraj.
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Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, cautioned that the immediate impact of the gains was likely to be limited – and that the advances could quickly be reversed if Islamic State loyalists weren’t converted or killed, or if basic government services weren’t restored soon.
