Libyan pro-government forces said they seized control Tuesday of a central district of Sirte as they advanced against the last pockets of Islamic State group resistance in the coastal city. Backed by tanks and mortar fire, forces loyal to Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) retook "District Two" of central Sirte, military officials said.
The advance came a day after the loyalists cleared and demined areas of the city captured in earlier clashes. An AFP photographer said the assault on District Two was mounted in a west-to-east direction and led by tanks opening the way for infantry. "District Two has been liberated," Reda Issa, a spokesman for the pro-government forces, told AFP. A commander of the pro-GNA forces said loyalists had also taken up positions south of District Two to cut off escape routes.