Anti — 9 May 2016

Three separate operations rooms to combat ISIS were established last week. It is quite clear that each actor wishes to control the operation to liberate Sirte, rather than genuinely cooperate with its adversaries. On 5 May, the Presidential Council issued its first...

5 May 2016 ISIS in Action

In Sirte, ISIS is taking unprecedented measures as the buildup of rival Libyan forces towards a battle in Sirte is almost complete. ISIS is reported to have executed, by firing squad an army captain, named as Ahnaish Qaddafi, and two other soldiers, both bothers, as...

5 May 2016 Western Response

During a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on 28 April, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford said the US has moved surveillance drones into Libyan airspace to gather intelligence and to prepare for the potential of additional airstrikes against ISIS.  At...

5 May 2016 Other Jihadi Actors

Non-State actors in Benghazi continue to battle with LNA forces in Benghazi, although they have now been pushed and cornered to a limited are of  twenty five squared km of land in Guwarsha and Ganfuda, according to the LNA spokesperson on 3 May. Ansar Al Sharia and...

5 May 2016 Anti-ISIS Coalition

The battle to liberate Sirte from IS was long seen by supporters of the UN deal as the national unity project gelling the rival actors into an internationally supported, locally led anti-ISIS coalition. However current realities appear to paint a different picture....