Eye On Jihadis in Libya Weekly Update: May 2

On 2 May, at least two suicide bombers blew themselves up while multiple gunmen assaulted the Libyan electoral commission headquarters in Tripoli. According to Libyan officials at least 12 people have been killed and several more injured. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, naming the suicide bombers as Abu Ayub and Abu Tawfik.

On the 26 April, Sirte security forces found a body in an orange jumpsuit, thought to have been killed by IS. It is unclear if the body was from a recent killing or from when IS controlled the city up until late 2016.


Other Jihadi Actors

On 23 April, reports suggest the al-Qaeda affiliated jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia (AS) were involved in clashes between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Derna Mujahedeen Shura Council (DMSC) west of Derna near Wadi al-Arqub. This follows an arrest by the LNA earlier in the month on 12 April of an AS figure from Sirte named Salem Abdul Qaway al-Gaddafi while hiding in the Jufra area.
On 23 and 25 April, LNA sources report that the Derna Mujahadeen Shura Council (DMSC) conducted two operations against LNA positions west and south of Derna respectively, with the latter killing two LNA fighters after their tank was destroyed by a pre-planted mine.

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, and to read about 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.
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