by Our Foreign Desk

LIBYA’S Western-backed government appealed to the Arab League nations at the weekend to bomb Islamist forces holding the city of Sirte.

The statement late on Saturday came after the Islamic State (Isis) affiliate seized control of another neighbourhood of the city.

The Tobruk-based Council of Deputies government said: “The Libyan government, unable to ward off these terrorist groups because of the arms embargo and out of its historic responsibility toward its people, calls on brotherly Arab countries to launch air strikes against specific targets of [Isis] locations in Sirte in co-ordination with our concerned bodies.”

The council, one of two bodies claiming to be Libya’s legitimate government, also condemned the failure of the “international community” to take action against the group’s rise in Libya.

The Arab League said it would hold an emergency meeting on Libya on Tuesday.

Egypt has joined the Council of Deputies in calling for international intervention in Libya against Isis and has carried out air strikes inside the country, including in February after Isis militants killed 21 Egyptian hostages there.

The Isis affiliate posted pictures on social media showing booty it had seized from the neighborhood of Sirte, including vehicles and ammunition.

Fighting began earlier this week after a rival Islamist group, backed by a local tribe, refused to pledge allegiance to Isis and called for a revolt.

Residents fled as Isis militants took over the area.

Awad Salem, whose family remains in the city, said that Isis militiamen had seized homes and were refusing to allow residents to return until they have searched them for weapons.

Government committee member Mohammed Hadia said Isis was looking for members of the Frejani tribe to kill or detain.

The Tobruk government has been fighting several rival factions since last year.

Chaos has reigned in Libya, once the most prosperous country in Africa, since the Gadaffi regime was overthrown by rebels backed by Nato air strikes in 2011.

The sons of Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, who was murdered during the revolt, have since been imprisoned, tortured and subjected to show trials.