Libyan forces advance in push on Daesh strongholds

Cairo: Libyan forces loyal to the country’s UN-brokered government are advancing in a push on two key Daesh strongholds.

Salem Jedran, the mayor of the town of Ajdabiya, says the troops with the so-called Petroleum Facilities Guards are advancing on the town of Bin Jawad, which fell under Daesh in January.

Jedran says clashes are underway on Monday in the eastern outskirts of the town. Bin Jawad is 160 kilometers from the central city of Sirte, the main Daesh bastion in Libya.

Elsewhere, Libyan militiamen from the western city of Misrata - who are also loyal to the UN government - are pushing toward Sirte, the terror group’s main stronghold.

The militia’s media office says the fighters are now nearly 30 kilometers from Sirte’s city center.