AFP, Benghazi/Tripoli, 23 February 2016 – Fighters loyal to Libya’s internationally recognized government said Tuesday they were close to seizing the center of second city Benghazi after gains against Islamist militias including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.
“We entered most of the sectors controlled by terrorist groups in Lithi” in central Benghazi, a military source told AFP.
The press office of Libya’s General Command, which supports the recognized administration, said it would announce the liberation of Lithi, a bastion of Islamist militias including ISIS, “imminently.”
Four people were also killed in clashes near the Libyan capital on Tuesday between ISIS and fighters loyal to the Tripoli-based government, a local official said.
The four dead men were members of the Sabratha military council which backs the Fajr Libya militia alliance in control of the capital, said Hussein al-Dawadi, mayor of Sabratha, west of Tripoli.
Libya has had rival administrations since the summer of 2014 when the recognized government fled Tripoli after a militia alliance including Islamists overran the capital.