On 18 March, ISIS spokesman, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, released a new speech titled “He was Sincere Toward Allah and Allah Fulfilled His Wish.” The speech, which goes for over 44 minutes, includes comments on fighters in Libya.
On 13 March, Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) arrested a six member terrorist cell after conducting raids in the Casablanca area. A statement from the ministry of interior said that one of the terror suspects had been previously imprisoned over connections to ISIS in Libya.
On 8 March, French newspaper Liberation published an article based on French General Directorate of Internal Security documents and other sources suggesting that a senior figure of ISIS may have visited Libya for a short period of time in April 2017. The individual, Abu Loqman (aka Abu Ayyoub al-Ansari), was appointed the head of the Amniyat – ISIS intelligence services – in March 2017. It has been alleged that he travelled to Libya in April 2017 to help reorganize the group after their removal from Sirte in December 2016.