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Libyan forces battle Islamic State street-to-street in Sirte | Reuters
Slowly removing ISIL from their Libyan stronghold.Crouching on a rooftop, Libyan truck driver Riyad Swaid takes aim through breeze blocks at positions held by Islamic State fighters a few hundred meters away in the city of Sirte.
He and his fellow gunmen, aligned with Libya's unity government, are battling street-to-street for the strategically important coastal city on the edge the Western war against Islamic State.
Nearly two months into the battle, the militant group has lost control of Sirte's harbor and some of the residential areas near the center of what was late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's hometown.
Islamic State are being squeezed by a tightening ring of separate fronts around a 5-km central area where earthen berms crisscross roads, cutting off escape routes. Tanks and howitzers lob occasional shells into areas held by Islamic State.