Other 5 Sept 16

Sep 5, 2016 | Other Jihadi Actors

In Derna, tensions between the jihadist forces controlling the city and the LNA are escalating. The Derna Shura Mujahedeen Council (DMSC) published a statement on 2 September eulogizing three of its fighters who died in an explosion in Derna, after bombs in their possession exploded. The council admitted that the target of the operation was the LNA airbase in Labraq, from which regular airstrikes are deployed against DMSC positions in Derna and Benghazi.

In Tripoli, tensions are growing between pro-GNA militias and hard-line Islamist and Misratan militias. On 1 September, Grand Mufti Sadeq al Ghariyani warned the militias of Soug Al Jouma, amongst them the Special Deterrence Force (SDF), a widely popular, anti-ISIS militia, to stop securing the GNA. Local sources indicate that a steady stream of hard-line fighters from the Benghazi Defence Brigades (whose advance into Eastern Libya to back up jihadists was thwarted by the LNA last month) are assembling in Tripoli to chase away the GNA, and free fellow jihadists held in SDF jails.