Fighters battling ISIS take a break from fighting in the Hawari area, southwest of the city of Benghazi, Libya.

:: The Libyan Army announced on Wednesday that it has recaptured the city of Benghazi from extremist groups, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

“Benghazi was conclusively cleared of extremists,” the privately-owned Libya Al-Hadath TV quoted the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) as saying on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

The announcement came just days after the LNA said its forces used artillery and tanks in an attack on the last remaining strongholds of militant groups in the Sabri and central neighborhoods in Benghazi.

On 24 June, the LNA announced it had taken control of the Souq al-Hout neighborhood, another former militant stronghold.

The LNA has fought against militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC) in the city for more than three years, with Sabri district proving to be particularly difficult to recapture.