Libyan forces free 5 foreigners held by IS

In Libya, pro-government forces have freed five foreign nationals held by Islamic State in Sirte after heavy fighting in their battle to capture the final district of the city, a local official said. Two of the freed foreigners were from Turkey, two from India and one from Bangladesh, said Rida Issa, a spokesman for the Bonyan Marsous forces which have been battling for six months against militants in Sirte. No details were given about how or where the five foreigners where captured, but Islamic State has attacked oilfields and kidnapped foreign workers over the last two years.

class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, forces from the western city of Misrata, allied with the UN-backed government in Tripoli, have been leading the battle to oust Islamic State from Sirte, helped since August by US air strikes and small teams of Western special forces. Yesterday, pro-government forces killed at least 20 Islamic State fighters as they pushed into the 600 District of Sirte, one of the last held by militants who control an area now less than one square kilometer, local officials said.