AP, Washington :President Barack Obama is assessing what’s working and what’s not in the fight against the Islamic State group as the U.S. military ramps up its engagement in Libya.After meeting Thursday with military and national security advisers at the Pentagon, Obama plans to take questions during a news conference.The session comes as the U.S. is bombing targets in and around the Libyan city of Sirte, a notable expansion of the U.S.-led coalition’s military mission against IS. At the urging of the Pentagon, Obama authorized the strikes that started this week and include precision strikes against IS tanks, rocket launchers and fighting positions.Obama typically convenes meetings of the National Security Council at the White House, but over the past year he has occasionally held them at other agencies like the State Department and the CIA. The goal of the road show at the Pentagon is to illustrate the multifaceted U.S. approach to defeating IS.Mired in chaos following the ouster of strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya became a target for IS extremists hoping to build a safe haven outside its initial territory in Iraq and Syria. Though the number of IS fighters in Libya has dwindled, the U.S. is hoping to help Libya’s fledgling, U.N.-backed unity government finish the job.Obama also plans to use the meeting at the Pentagon to tout recent gains by the U.S. and its partners against IS in Syria and Iraq. With significant U.S. help, Iraq’s government is preparing a major offensive to reclaim the key northern city of Mosul, controlled by IS since June 2014.Meanwhile, Libyan pro-government forces battled to retake territory in the Islamic State group stronghold Sirte on Wednesday, but faced fierce resistance from jihadist snipers and mines.Fighters allied to Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), supported by US air strikes, are trying to retake the coastal city — hometown of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi — from IS which has controlled it since June 2015.The loss of Sirte would be a major blow to the jihadist group, which has faced a series of setbacks in Syria and Iraq.”Our forces… are trying to strengthen their advance with the support of ongoing American air strikes that have given momentum to the military operation,” said Reda Issa, a spokesman for forces loyal to Libya’s unity government.
