The head of Libya's unity government today urged Libyans to rally behind the battle against jihadists in Sirte, as the UN approved an operation to stop the flood of weapons into the country.
Pro-government forces are fighting to oust the Islamic State group from Sirte, whose fall would be a major setback for the extremists who have also lost territory in Syria and Iraq.
The UN Security Council unanimously authorised a European Union naval mission to enforce an arms embargo on the country and expand Operation Sophia which has been combating migrant-smuggling.
Diplomats hope the move will shore up the UN-backed administration led by prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, who on Tuesday said advances by pro-government fighters in Sirte should be a model for "a national initiative to fight terrorism".
Forces allied with his Government of National Accord have been fighting since mid-May to oust IS from Sirte, 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.
"We bless the victories of our sons on the front lines... in the fight to liberate Sirte and cleanse it" of IS, he said in a televised statement released on the Facebook page of the GNA.
Pro-government troops -- a mix of militias and army units -- have taken control of Sirte's port and airport.
But their advance slowed at the end of last week as they reached central and northern parts of the city where IS fighters are holed up in residential areas.
"This morning at dawn our forces repelled a new attack by Islamic State in which it attempted to capture the port," Reda Issa, a spokesman for the unity government's forces, told AFP today.
Later the GNA forces said they lost two fighters and 14 wounded in clashes with IS in Sirte, which they claimed to have advanced on.
The fighting has left 140 pro-GNA fighters dead and 500 injured, according to medical officials.
Established in Tripoli more than two months ago, Libya's unity government has been struggling to unify violence-ridden Libya and exert its control over the entire North African country.
Its task is complicated by the presence of a parallel government operating out of eastern Libya, backed by local militias and units of the national army loyal to a controversial general, Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar refuses to recognise the GNA, and considers its forces "militias outside the law".
