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Clashes with IS kill 16 gov't guards in Libya's Sirte

Xinhua, June 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Clashes with the Islamic State in Libya's Sirte, some 450 km east the capital Tripoli, killed 16 presidential guards and injured 60 others on Tuesday, a medical source told Xinhua.

"The clashes killed 16 and injured 60 of the government's troops," said Aziz Isa, media official of Misrata's central hospital.

A military source of the government forces said that heavy clashes with heavy weapons and air forces took place in western Sirte. The source also said that dozens of IS fighters were killed in the clashes.

The clashes since May between the Libyan government's forces and IS affiliates in Sirte have killed and injured hundreds of the government troops, according to Misrata's central hospital.

The presidential guards said earlier that they had managed to control most of Sirte.

The UN-backed government has formed the presidential guards service, which is composed mostly of militias of Misrata, to fight against the IS in Sirte. Endit