Alwaght- Libyan forces have captured the town of Ben Jawad from ISIS terrorist group, pushing the Takfiri group back along a coastal strip they control east of their stronghold of Sirte.
Local residents say Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) fighters had been killed and 18 wounded in fierce clashes in the coastal town, and that fighting was continuing in the nearby town of Nawfiliyah.
The PFG has declared its support for Libya's U.N.-backed unity government. Other brigades that back the government advanced last week to the outskirts of Sirte from the west.
"We launched today's attack to purge and liberate the central region from Daesh (ISIS terrorists), and secure this area under the umbrella of the ministry of defense and the Presidential Council, the Supreme Commander of the Libyan army," government spokesman Ali al-Hassi said.
The Presidential Council is the unity government's leadership.
ISIS took advantage of the security vacuum in Libya to seize control of Sirte last year, extending its presence along about 250 km (155 miles) of coastline either side of the city.
In January the group announced it had established full control over Ben Jawad, about 150 km east of Sirte. It also attacked the oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, a little further east, clashing with the PFG and causing extensive damage.
Libya's unity government is designed to replace two rival administrations, backed by loose alliances of armed brigades that competed for power from Tripoli, in the west, and from eastern Libya.
Meanwhile, reliable sources indicate that five years after NATO’s Libya war, Italy, the EU and the US are in the advanced stages of preparations for the next military intervention. The Western imperialist powers want to establish their own military bases in Libya in order to control the country’s massive sources of oil and natural gas, and secure an important gateway to Africa.
For months, the North African country has seen a secret build-up of American, British, French and Italian agents and officers, while reconnaissance and armed drones controlled from Sigonella in Sicily have conducted surveillance missions and air strikes in Libya. NATO is using the pretext of ISIS presence in the North African state to intervene military. Libyan officials insist that they only need the international community to provide weapons and training for its armed forces to be able to eject ISIS terrorist from the country.
