We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners

General News, third prize stories

November 25, 2016

GNA-affiliated fighters take aim at IS positions in the Al Jiza neighborhood of Sirte.

Military forces affiliated to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) launched an offensive to retake the coastal city of Sirte in May. The Islamic State group (IS) had gained control of the city a year earlier. IS emerged as a growing force in Libya in the political vacuum that resulted following the overthrow of President Muammar Gaddafi, and Sirte had become one of IS’s three major strongholds, alongside Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. The GNA offensive lasted until December, benefiting from US air support after August. According to a UN Security Council report, IS lost almost all of the territory it controlled in the area, although small groups remained active throughout the country.

Location: Sirte, Libya

Photo Credit: Alessio Romenzi

Alessio Romenzi (b.1974) was raised in a small village in the Italian Apennines and previously worked as refrigeration technician and also a blacksmith.

He later decided to base himself in the Middle East, covering the so-called Arab Spring from the beginning, with a special focus on Egypt and Libya. Later his interests moved to Syria. Alessio was one of the first photographers to be smuggled inside the country when the regime of Bashar al-Assad began increasing the firepower against the opposition and denied entry to journalists.

His images appear regularly in the major international magazines and are used by international humanitarian organizations. When asked about the motives underlying his work, he never has anything conclusive to say. He simply states that the camera is the best way he has to document what is going on in the world.