by Jason | Jun 27, 2014 | Libyan actors
Haftar’s forces claimed substantial gains against Islamist groups over the past week. Ansar al Sharia has seemingly regrouped in its traditional strongholds in the Sidi Faraj and Hawari districts. Given that these areas have seen some of the heaviest airstrikes and...
by Jason | Jun 21, 2014 | ISIS
The spectacular military success of ISIS in Iraq show that a weak and brittle state structure can easily be defeated by a small number of trained and motivated jihadists. This message could inspire Ansar al-Sharia to launch a bold offensive in Libya’s east. There have...
by Jason | Jun 21, 2014 | International actors
The U.S. military captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah in Benghazi in the early morning of 16 June, the second such ‘extraordinary rendition’ of a Libyan citizen on Libyan soil in the past two years. Abu Khatallah is the suspected mastermind of the September 2012 attack on...
by Jason | Jun 21, 2014 | Other Jihadi Actors
A plane carrying Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA) members to Kufra was forced to make an emergency landing at a nearby oilfield airstrip on 18 June after the Kufra airport received anonymous threats that the plane would be shot down. The threats appear to target...
by Jason | Jun 21, 2014 | Libyan actors
The rhetoric on both sides of Operation Dignity intensified on 15 June, when Haftar said that all “terrorists” coming to Libya should leave now or “die here.” In turn, the Grand Mufti called for “revolutionaries” to wage jihad against Haftar and his followers....
by Jason | Jun 15, 2014 | ISIS
ISIS in Libya did not exist yet. However, the week saw the assassination of an Ansar al-Sharia leader in Derna and a senior police officer in Benghazi.
by Jason | Jun 15, 2014 | International actors
On 6 June, UNSMIL Representative Tarek Mitri announced the UN’s support for a Libyan national dialogue, which would bring together some of the country’s most influential actors to settle long-divisive issues. Libyan leaders are expected to meet a week before the...
by Jason | Jun 15, 2014 | Other Jihadi Actors
The Misurati-owned Thobacts Hotel in Tripoli was attacked on 8 June. There was further violence in the east, including the assassination of an Ansar al-Sharia leader in Derna and a senior police officer in Benghazi. A suicide bomber also blew himself up at a...
by Jason | Jun 15, 2014 | Libyan actors
Haftar’s offensive against Islamist forces continued. A representative of Haftar said on 6 June that the offensive had seized half of its targets. However, the representative warned of new fighting near the Algerian and Tunisian borders, as Islamists are squeezed out...
by Jason | Jun 9, 2014 | ISIS
ISIS in Libya did not exist yet. However, In Derna, heavy clashes occurred between Ansar al-Sharia and Abu Salim Martyrs’ Brigade, including two car bombs and various assassination attempts.
