ISIS in action

On 17 June, LNA forces claimed they observed ISIS elements between Sirte and Saddada. On 12, 14 and 15 June, clashes between LNA and ISIS fighters occurred in the Harouj mountains. On 14 June, ISIS released an Amaq report claiming to have killed fifty LNA fighters. On 15 June, ISIS claimed IED attack targeting LNA forces near Tmassah. On 11 June, security forces stopped two migrants on suspicion of being members of ISIS. On 8 June, the Algerian army fired upon a suspected ISIS armed group as they approached the boarder.

On 3 June, ISIS is suspected of undertaking an attack on the al-Fuqaha gate. On 4 June, ISIS is suspected of being involved in an IED attack in Derna. On 8 June, BAM spokesperson stated that ISIS sleeper cells were observed in the Garabulli district east of Tripoli. On 10 June, a suspected ISIS member was arrested in the Shabia area of Sirte. On 9 June, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian suggested that ISIS was resurgent in the Fezzan.

On 27 May, Misrata security forces undertook a raid in Abu Grein, arresting alleged ISIS supporter Faris Belhaj. On 28 May, the Misratan Central Counter-Terrorism Force arrested seven alleged ISIS members in Abu Grein. On 28 May, ISIS was observed south of Sirte. On 30 May, ISIS published a second set of “Diary of a Mujahedeen” photos. On 3 June, ISIS claimed to have attacked the LNA) Checkpoint 400 in the Fuqaha area. On 3 June, ISIS claimed responsibility for the two vehicle-borne IEDs attacks in Derna conducted on 2 June.

On 23 May, ISIS released its al-Naba newsletter no 183 that featured a report on the group’s raid on LNA forces near Zilla. On 26 May, the LNA claimed it conducted an airstrike on an alleged ISIS armed convoy. On 26 May, the GNA reported they had arrested the alleged head of ISIS’ Religious Police.

On 20 May, the SPF claimed to have intercepted communications of ISIS fighters planning to undertake a assault on Sirte. On 18 May, ISIS fighters attacked a LNA checkpoint near Zilla. On 17 May, ISIS released its al-Naba newsletter no. 182, which featured a report on the group’s raid on Ghadduwa. On 13 May, ISIS published photos of the group’s members daily lives in the Fezzan.

On 9 May, ISIS conducted a daylight attack on the town of Ghadduwa. On 9 May, ISIS released its al-Naba newsletter no 181 that featured as its cover and main article the group’s 4 May attack. On 12 May, UK-based tabloid the Sunday Express reported that British military officials believe ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been hiding in Libya. On 14 May, the Sabratha Operations Room claim suspected ISIS member Safwan Abdul Majid was killed in an LNA airstrike in Zawiyya.

On 4 May, ISIS claimed an attack against the LNA’s 160 Brigade Jabril Baba training camp in Sebha. On 25 April, the GNA MoI arrested Yasser Saleh Khalifa al-Majri for his alleged membership to ISIS. On 25 April, ISIS fighters attacked the home of a LNA supporter, Khaloukh Massoud, in Ghadduwa.

On 29 April, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video for the first time in five years. In his message, Baghdadi said that he sees Africa as an important location for the group’s future operations. He said that ISIS could be effective in Libya despite losing Sirte in 2016. He called on ISIS fighters in Libya to carry out a war of attrition and praised the recent ISIS attacks against the town of Fuqaha, in Libya’s central region, saying they were in revenge for ISIS’s defeat in al-Baghuz, Syria.

On 21 April, ISIS Fezzan Branch published a series of photos and a short video of an alleged attack on LNA forces south of Sebha. This follows the publication of ISIS Naba no. 178 on 18 April, which included details of ISIS’ assault on Ghadduwa.