By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli, 11 December 2016:
After being closed for a year and thee months, the Gasr Abu Hadi branch of the Jumhuriya Bank, near Sirte’s Gardabiya aiport, reopened today. It is the first bank in Sirte to reopen. According to reports half a million dinars was sent to the branch for customers.
The Gardabiya area was taken from Islamic State (IS) forces last June but only now with the liberation of the town has it been deemed safe enough to reopen banks. In any event, most of the bank’s customers had fled.
Meanwhile, according to Misrata TV, the Red Crescent has so far recovered some 1,700 bodies in Sirte. It quoted Misrata military council spokesman Brigadier Ibrahim Beitelmal saying that the bodies had been found buried in the rubble of various buildings. Three days ago, the Bunyan Marsous operations room (BM) put the number of bodies recovered at 483.
BM also says that in addition to helping recover bodies and being involved in de-mining operations, it continues to hunt down IS fighters who managed to flee the town.
One good-news story about Sirte currently doing the rounds in Misrata is of a local women whose husband and son were allegedly killed by IS during its occupation of the town. It is reported that two children, a boy and a girl whose parents had belonged to IS and had been killed, were found by Bunyan Marsous forces. The woman, who is now in Misrata, is said to have asked that they be given to her to adopt and raise. This has now been done.
