On 24 September, it was reported that as many as eight bodies belonging to the Libyan National Army and their supporters were unearthed in Derna following the confessions of alleged IS militants. The alleged IS members confessions were broadcast on Libyan television days before the recovery of the bodies. The deceased were said to have been missing from 2014.
On 17 September, the Sirte Protection Force (SPF) uncovered a cache of unexploded ordnance, RPGs, and mortars abandoned by IS in the Sirte Central Clinics Complex. A spokesperson for the SPF de-mining group, Salim al-Amil, stated that the explosives were discovered amidst efforts to equip a clinical facility in the city.
On 24 September, the Libyan National Army (LNA) dismantled an Improvised explosive device (IED) in the al-Mughar district of Derna. This follows an alleged attempt by the Derna Protection Force (DPF) to set an IED beneath a LNA police vehicle in the city’s Eastern District on the 19 December. A man was injured in the incident and was taken to al-Harish hospital. Furthermore, direct clashes still continue in the city with an LNA fighter belonging to the 212 Battalion being killed in action on 24 September.
A weekly update of IS’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 IS in Libya this week, click here, and to read about the developments within the anti-IS Coalition of Libyan militias, click here. To read all four sections of this week’s Eye on IS in Libya report, click here.
