Year: 2016

ISIS In Action On 18 September, the GNA’s Misratan-led Bunyan Marsous (BM) forces resumed their ‘final’ push to destroy remaining pockets of ISIS fighters in Sirte after a two-week break. Two ISIS SVBIED’s were destroyed before they could reach their targets, while artillery targeted the coastal 3rd district where ISIS fighters are holding out.  Local sources also indicate that on a weekly basis more ISIS members from Derna are reported dead in Sirte. On 18 September, Mohamed Ghasri, a spokesperson for BM forces said “Our forces targeted hideouts of Daesh in Neighbourhood No.3’s 600 block area and Geza Bahriya with heavy artillery shelling,” Ghasri said two ISIS commanders, Hassan Karami and Walid Ferjani, had been killed in fighting inside the city, without giving details. Clashes between Misratan forces and ISIS units south of Sirte may also indicate that, as predicted, ISIS members have managed to seep south out of the city. On 14 September, ISIS claimed an attack against BM forces in Wadi Jaref, 30 km south west of Sirte. The same day, members of the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) clashed with members of ISIS in Wadi Zamzam, also south west of Sirte. ISIS released a statement last week claiming responsibility for the two vehicle explosions which took place on 9 September near the Government of National Accord (GNA) building in the Abu Setta Naval Base in Tripoli. 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. To read all four sections of this week’s Eye on ISIS in Libya report, click here. To subscribe to receive this report weekly into your inbox, sign up on the subscribe page.