Libya: ISIL fighters retreat from main bastion in Libya, shaving beards as they go
ISIL fighters were retreating from their main bastion in Libya on Thursday, as militiamen allied to a UN-brokered unity government pushed into the central city of Sirte.
Some extremists reportedly shaved off their beards to escape while the pro-government fighters, mostly from the western Libyan city of Misurata, pushed into the city centre in their tanks and pickup trucks mounted with machine guns.
At a main roundabout, militiamen dismantled the metal frame of what some Sirte residents had dubbed the “stage of horror” – a podium used by ISIL for public beheadings and extrajudicial killings.
Videos circulated on social media show triumphant militiamen flashing victory signs and chanting “Allahu Akbar” as they drove around Sirte.
The capture of the city capped a month-long offensive by the Libyan militiamen to take the ISIL stronghold. It was the only major ISIL-held city outside Syria and Iraq, and was seen as a possible fallback option for the capital of the extremist group’s self-styled caliphate.