On 31 January, Sirte-based 166 Battalion arrested a suspected leading member of IS in Libya, Khalifa al-Barq, during a raid on his home in Sirte. Unconfirmed reports suggested the operation was undertaken with foreign support, though Sirte officials have denied this.
On 27 January, the Criminal Investigation Agency of Misrata arrested prominent IS member Zakaria Saleh al-Sheikh in the Jebel al-Gharbi District of Misrata. Al-Sheikh had recently escaped from Derna.
On 29 January, the Libyan National Army (LNA) arrested al-Qaeda member Alamin Ali Kalfa near Sebha. Kalfa is suspected of being involved is a series of assassinations targeting security officials. This coincides with reports that the LNA has started moving al-Qaeda and IS prisoners captured in and around Sebha to Qarnada prison in Shahat.
On 2 February, LNA forces and the Derna Protection Force (DPF) clashed in the old city area of Derna, leaving several dead. The LNA has stated it expects to announce the removal of the DPF from the area within days and complete the total liberation of the city.
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.
