Libyan mly pounds Islamists

BENGHAZI, Libya: Military forces loyal to Libya’s eastern government said on Thursday they had carried out air strikes overnight against Islamist fighters in Derna after Islamic State militants retreated from positions close to the city.

Derna has been the site of a three-way conflict between the forces loyal to the eastern government, an Islamist grouping known as the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council and Islamic State militants.

Fighters from Islamic State had controlled the city until the Shura Council forces pushed them out last June. The military has attacked both groups.

Military spokesman Abdulkarim Sabra said the overnight air strikes had targeted Shura Council fighters in Derna’s Sayeda Khadija neighbourhood and at Bishr prison.

He made no comment on possible casualties. Shura Council spokesman Hafed Addabaa said the prison had held Islamic State suspects and added that the strikes had not caused any casualties or damage. The military and the Shura Council both claimed credit for Wednesday’s withdrawal of Islamic State from positions in Derna’s ‘district 400’ and al-Fatayeh to the south of the city.