Libyan forces enter main IS bastion, heavy fighting underway

BENGHAZI, Libya – The spokesman for Libyan forces loyal to a U.N.-brokered government said his troops have advanced deep inside the coastal city of Sirte, the main stronghold of the Islamic State group’s local affiliate.

Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Ghasri tells the Associated Press that forces have seized a key bridge inside the city where the extremists used to hang the bodies of their enemies.

He says his forces are only 3 miles from the city center and a key square called Zafrana, where IS killed prisoners. The fighting on Wednesday killed five of his fighters and wounded another 25.

Sirte is the only IS-held city outside Syria and Iraq, and was seen by some as a fallback option for the capital of its self-styled caliphate.