At least 34 government fighters have been killed and more than 180 wounded, as they closed in on the last IS holdouts in the coastal city of Sirte.

Forces aligned with Libya's UN-backed government have pushed militants back into a small residential area in central Sirte in a three-month-old campaign. They have been supported by US air strikes since August 1st.

Heavy fighting resumed on Sunday after a one-week lull. The Libyan brigades say they are close to victory in Sirte.  But they have struggled to defend themselves from suicide bombings, sniper fire and landmines.

"With God's blessing, we advanced on them from four different directions, and we defeated them. Now the Daesh are surrounded in neighborhood number three. Our forces advanced from the eastern front on the al Jeeza coastal area, and that's how we surrounded them in neighborhood number three. The next assault shall finish them," said Raafat Yahiay, local Libyan military commander.