AhlulBayt News Agency - The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) fighters in eastern Libya said they captured the coastal town of Ben Jawad from the ISIS, pushing the militant group along a coastal strip it controls east of its stronghold of Sirte.
Spokesman for PFG fighters Ali al-Hassi announced the liberation of Ben Jawad (180 km east of Sirte), after a major offensive on IS strongholds on multiple fronts in the vicinity of Ben Jawad and Nawfiliyah.
Hassi said five PFG fighters had been killed and 18 wounded in Monday's fierce clashes in the coastal town, and that fighting was continuing in the nearby town of Nawfiliyah, according to Reuters.
"We launched today's attack to purge and liberate the central region from Daesh (IS), and secure this area under the umbrella of the ministry of defense and the Presidential Council, the Supreme Commander of the Libyan army," he added.
Col. Bashir Bodverh, member of the Joint Security Room formed by Libya's Presidential Council, explained that the PFG fighters stormed ISIS sites from four axes, and that they managed to advance to Ben Jawad via the coastal road that connects Sirte and the coastal town.
The PFG is a paramilitary force of several thousand men that was set up to protect oil installations in eastern Libya.
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