A media official with forces allied to the U.N.-brokered government in Libya says Islamic State group militants are being cornered inside their headquarters, a conference center in the central Libyan town of Sirte. Ahmed Hadiya, the head of the media center of the anti-IS operation, told The Associated Press Thursday that forces advancing from the west and south most recently dismantled the main stage in Zafarana square, where according to Human Rights Watch at least 49 people were shot, beheaded or crucified by the militants. Hadiya says that the forces — which are mostly from the western city of Misrata — are preparing for an offensive to seize the Ouagadougou conference center. Hadiya and the U.N.-backed government say at least 130 people have been killed and 400 injured in the battle for Sirte. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/222613.aspx
