Weekly Eye on ISIS in Libya Update – July 18, 2016

ISIS In Action
Sirte’s port remains under the control of Bunyan Marsus, but clashes with ISIS continue to take place around the port’s western perimeter. Libyan naval vessels continue to blockade the port, while local sources also report the presence of foreign naval frigates. Fighting this week focused on the ISIS stronghold in the Ouagadougou Centre, Ibn Sina Hospital, and Sirte University areas, with airstrikes and helicopter gunships featuring heavily in the battles. In short, very little progress is being made to dislodge ISIS from these areas. ISIS fighters still appear to have a presence in areas previously taken by Bunyan Marsus in Sirte’s south and west, and ISIS also appears to be attempting to flank Bunyan Marsus, indicating a more prolonged guerrilla war in the city.
A weekly update of ISIS’s actions, the Western response, and developments pertaining to Libya’s other militias is available by subscribing here.  To read about Western countries’ responses to ISIS in Libya this week, click here. To read the Eye on ISIS in Libya Team’s blog post about the actions of other jihadi actors, click here. And to read their explanation of the developments within the anti-ISIS Coalition of Libyan militias, click here.
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