An article in the New York Times indicates that pro-government Libyan militias backed by US airpower have retaken the coastal city of Surt from ISIS.
The Islamic State’s loss of Surt would signify the culmination of a summer-long offensive by militias from Misurata, under the auspices of the Government of National Accord, the Tripoli-based authority backed by the United Nations.
It comes against the backdrop of other military setbacks for the Islamic State, which once held wide areas of Syria and Iraq but has been forced to relinquish territory in recent months. Iraqi forces retook control of the city of Falluja from the Islamic State in June. The Syrian Army, backed by Russia, expelled the Islamic State from the ancient city of Palmyra in March. Syrian insurgents and Kurdish militias, including some American-backed factions, have been squeezing Islamic State positions in northeast Syria near Raqqa, the organization’s headquarters.
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