Libya: Islamic State Still Holding Out
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 12 October 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 19 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Libya: Islamic State Still Holding Out, 12 October 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59e5c6e84.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Fighters with Islamic State (IS) are clinging on in Libya despite the loss of their stronghold in Sirte last year. The country's continuing political crisis has given the extremists time and space to regroup.
In the last few months, IS fighters were spotted manning checkpoints on the coastal road from Sirte, where they have carried out kidnappings (Libya Observer, September 3; Middle East Eye, September 7). IS' own publication, al-Naba, claimed its fighters had seized parts of the road between Sirte and Nufaliya around the same time.
On October 4, IS claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack on a court building in Misrata — at least four people were killed and several others were injured. The attack may have targeted the head of the court, Assadik Badi. One report quoting a defense ministry spokesman indicated that the attack was in response to comments Badi had made about IS (Libya Herald, October 4).
Meanwhile, Hashem Abedi, the younger brother of the Libyan-British national who carried out an attack in May on concertgoers in Manchester in the United Kingdom, remains under arrest in Tripoli. The authorities accuse him of having planned to carry out attacks in the capital. He is reportedly linked to the arrest last month of a Tripoli-based imam, who was detained over allegations that he used his mosque in the capital to seek out IS recruits (Libya Herald, September 11).
IS built up its operations in Sirte between 2015 and 2016, with analysts warning that the city could become the next base for the group after Mosul and Raqqa. The group was eventually forced out in December, defeated by Libyan forces loyal to Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, led by a militia from Misrata and backed by U.S. air power (Africa News, December 5, 2016; al-Jazeera, August 11, 2016).
U.S. Africa Command estimates that there are now only 500 IS fighters active in Libya. However, while the collapse of their stronghold was a setback, IS is yet to be fully defeated in Libya. The jihadists' numbers have been reduced, but many of those who escaped Sirte have started to regroup near Bani Walid in the desert areas southeast of Tripoli.
IS fighters are also reportedly sharing resources with al-Qaeda, in contrast to other parts of the world where the two organizations are at loggerheads, and Libya's neighbors are weary — including Chad, which temporarily closed its border in January, concerned that migrating jihadists might flee into its territory (Africa News, January 6).
Nearly a year after it was defeated in Sirte, IS is reappearing in Libya. Without a resolution to the country's political stalemate, too little attention may be being focused on them.
