US special operations troops are for the first time directly supporting local forces battling ISIS in their key Libyan stronghold of Sirte [5], the Washington Post [6] reported Aug. 9. US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Post the commandos are working from a joint operations center on the outskirts of the city. (AFP [7], Aug. 10) However, the head of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA [5]) made clear that he rejects the introduction of foreign troops in the country. "We do not need foreign troops on Libyan soil," Fayez al-Sarraj [8] said in an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera [9] daily. (Middle East Eye [10], Aug. 10) The US-backed militias in Sirte now say they have seized control of the city's Ouagadougou convention center that had served as ISIS headquarters. (BBC News [11], Aug. 10)
