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

ISIS In Action
On 14 October, BM forces stormed the ‘Campo’ area between the First and Third Residential Districts.  ISIS have been using this area to flank BM fighters as they attempt to surround ISIS’ enclave in the Third Residential District. 14 BM fighters died and 35 were injured before BM forces managed to take control of the Campo neighbourhood from ISIS fighters. On 16 October, BM forces advanced further inside al-Gizah al-Bahriya from the west. The US said it had conducted 36 airstrikes on enemy fighting positions over the weekend, bringing its total airstrikes so far in support of BM forces up to 288 in total. ISIS claimed a suicide vehicle attack on BM forces on 16 October.
On 14 October, there were reports of ISIS vehicles being present in the areas between al-Baghlah & Wadi Allod and also Wadi Jarif & Bu’ayrat al-Hasun, indicating that some ISIS forces have managed to escape safely out of the city and are still active south of Sirte. In Sebha, a key city in southern situated Libya 6ookm south of Sirte, a Saudi national and a Libyan were taken captive after they were accused of being  part of a hidden ISIS cell 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.
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.