BENGHAZI (Sputnik) — The Libyan Armed Forces estimate that the liberation of Benghazi, one of the largest cities in the country, from Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh, banned in Russia) militants will take place withing the coming hours, Khalifa Obeidi, the head of the press service of the Libyan National Army, told Sputnik on Thursday.
"The Libyan army is ending fighting in the city of Benghazi. The areas of al-Kawarsha and Qunfudah will be fully liberated in the next few hours," Obeidi said.
He said that the army managed to take control of the Tripoli-Benghazi road.
Obeidi added that militants had a rather small area of the city under control.
The extremists gained a foothold in Libya in the turmoil following the 2011 ouster of the country’s longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Since 2014, the armed forces under command of Gen. Khalifa Haftar have been fighting militant groups in Benghazi.