libya’s pro-Government forces on Monday cornered Islamic State group jehadis in their last holdouts in the city of Sirte, after heavy fighting that left dozens dead and wounded. The battle for ISIS’s North African stronghold was launched more than three months ago by forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord.
Those forces have been backed by US air raids for almost a month, amid international concern over the group’s growing influence in one of IS’s few centres of operation outside Syria and Iraq. ISIS overran the Mediterranean hometown of libya’s slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi in mid-2015, sparking fears the jehadis will use it as a springboard for attacks on Europe.