U.S.-backed Libyan forces take over Islamic State headquarters in Surt

Reporting from CAIRO â€”  U .S.-backed Libyan forces said on Wednesday they have taken over the Islamic State group’s headquarters in Surt, the militants’ final bastion in Libya, breaking a weeks-long stalemate with the help of U.S. airstrikes.

The fighters said that they had seized control of the sprawling convention center that was used as Islamic State’s headquarters in the coastal city. The fighters, who are mainly from the nearby city of Misrata, launched their offensive against Islamic State in June. They also said that they had seized the city’s main hospital, Ibn Sina, from Islamic State militants.

A statement on the forces’ Facebook page declares that “Surt is returning to Libya.�

The government-supported operation also said that it lost contact with one of its warplanes and the pilot. In an online statement, Islamic State claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane and killing the pilot.

Mohammed Shamia, a spokesman for the operation, posted on his Facebook page a list of 14 anti-Islamic State fighters who have been killed in the last 24 hours.

Since Aug. 1, U.S. warplanes have launched a series of airstrikes targeting Islamic State positions in the city. The U.S. Africa Command (Africom) said in a news release on Tuesday that the total number of strikes had reached 29. “These actions, and those we have taken previously, will help deny Daesh a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States and our allies,� it said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

The air support came in response to a request for assistance from Libya’s U.N.-brokered government after battles in Surt stalled.

Islamic State militants seized control of the city, the hometown of Libya’s former dictator Moammar Kadafi, in 2015.

Libya descended into chaos following Kadafi’s ouster in 2011. The country has been divided between warring parliaments and governments, with each backed by a loose array of militias and tribes.

In December last year, the United Nations struck a deal to unify the country’s rival governments and created a third unity government led by Fayez Serraj, who still needs a crucial vote of confidence from the eastern-based parliament.

The forces fighting Islamic State in Surt are under the command of Serraj’s government.

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UPDATES:

11:36 a.m. This article was updated throughout with additional details.

This story was originally posted at 10:25 a.m.