Three fighters from the government-backed brigades were killed and around five wounded in Saturday's fighting, he said.
Brigades aligned with Libya's
U.N.-backed government said on Saturday, June 4, they had captured
Ghardabiya air base from Islamic State to the south of the militant
group's stronghold of Sirte.
Spokesman Mohamed al-Gasri
said the capture of the base, about 20 km (12 miles) from the centre of
Sirte, was strategically significant since it cut off supply routes for
Islamic State and "trapped them further" within the city.
Three fighters from the government-backed brigades were killed and around five wounded in Saturday's fighting, he said.
The
brigades, mainly made up from fighters from the western city of
Misrata, have driven Islamic State back to the outskirts of Sirte from
the west over the past three weeks. They counter-attacked after Islamic
State had advanced towards Misrata in early May.
To
the east, a separate force that controls oil terminals and is also
loyal to the U.N.-backed government captured two small towns from
Islamic State earlier this week.
Western states
are hoping the U.N.-backed government, which arrived in Tripoli in
March, can bring together Libya's competing factions to defeat Islamic
State.
The extremist group established a foothold
in Libya amid political chaos and conflict in the North African state,
creating its most significant base outside Iraq and Syria, and gaining
control over Sirte last year.
The U.N.-backed
government's prime minister told Reuters on Friday that it was too early
to give a timeframe for the battle for Sirte, but that he was confident
that Libyan forces could unite to retake the city.
Most
of Sirte's population of about 80,000 is thought to have fled, and
Gasri previously said residents who remain would be given a chance to
escape before the government-backed brigades advanced into residential
areas.
"We are concerned now because Daesh (Islamic State) militants are hiding among civilians inside the city" of Sirte, Gasri said on Saturday.
The brigades have lost dozens of their fighters and seen hundreds wounded in the past month of clashes.
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