Libyan forces take losses in battle for Sirte against Islamic State

A fighter from forces aligned with Libya's new unity government monitors Islamic State locations at Algharbiyat area in Sirte, June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan forces fighting Islamic State in its stronghold of Sirte said on Wednesday that 36 of their men had been killed and nearly 150 wounded in the previous day's clashes, one of the heaviest tolls in their month-long campaign.

Islamic State militants had been fighting hard to defend the shrinking territory they still control in the residential centre of Sirte, said Abdalla Binrasali, a spokesman at the forces' media centre in Misrata.