U.S. on watch for Islamic State dispersing in Libya - official

Fighters of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government gather as they push into the last area held by Islamic State militants in Ghiza Bahriya district in Sirte, Libya November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Hani Amara

ALGIERS (Reuters) - The United States is "watching very carefully" for Islamic State militants operating outside Sirte as the jihadist group faces defeat in its former North African stronghold, a senior U.S. Department of State official told Reutersew.

Libyan forces have been battling Islamic State in Sirte for more than six months and have reduced the amount of ground held by its fighters to a small cluster of buildings near the city's Mediterranean sea front.