Libya unity government retakes strategic IS-held crossroads

PanARMENIAN.Net - Libya's unity government recaptured a strategic crossroads from the Islamic State group Tuesday, May 16 and called for warplanes to bomb the jihadists after world powers showed readiness to arm it, AFP reports.

On Monday, the United States, Italy and Libya's allies and neighbors agreed in Vienna to arm the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) to confront the threat from IS.

The GNA forces said on Facebook that they recaptured Abu Grein crossroads south of Libya's third city Misrata, where the coastal highway meets the main road south into the desert interior.

They also said they had made major advances in the latest battles, reaching an area only 50 kilometres west of the IS stronghold of Sirte, AFP says.

Tuesday's clashes claimed the lives of seven members of the GNA forces and left 15 wounded.

IS overran Abu Grein on May 5 as part of a series of forays into territory controlled by the UN-backed government, including a deadly attack a week later on a checkpoint at Saddada, 50 kilometres to the west.

The loss of Abu Grein had prompted militia in Libya's third city to mobilise.

Its recapture came a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a 25-member group agreed to exempt the GNA from parts of the UN arms embargo imposed since the uprising against Moamer Kadhafi's regime five years ago.