16 August, 2016
A lightly wounded GNA-affiliated fighter walks past vehicles burning in the aftermath of an IS car bomb, which killed three people and injured 15.
Military forces affiliated to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) launched an offensive to retake the coastal city of Sirte in May. The Islamic State group (IS) had gained control of the city a year earlier. IS emerged as a growing force in Libya in the political vacuum that resulted following the overthrow of President Muammar Gaddafi, and Sirte had become one of IS’s three major strongholds, alongside Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. The GNA offensive lasted until December, benefiting from US air support after August. According to a UN Security Council report, IS lost almost all of the territory it controlled in the area, although small groups remained active throughout the country.
Alessio Romenzi
He later decided to base himself in the Middle East, covering the so-called Arab Spring from the beginning, with a special focus on Egypt and Libya. Later his interests moved to ...
