On 22 September, the US conducted an unmanned airstrike on an ISIS camp about 150 miles south-east of Sirte, reportedly killing 17 ISIS fighters and destroying 3 vehicles. ISIS’s Wilayat Barqa, published a long video last week praising the ISIS suicide car bomb attack in Nawfaliyah and the Fugha checkpoint massacres in August.
ISIS
Our archive of political and security incidents relating to Islamic State activity in Libya
13-19 September: DMSC claims it has identified the bodies of 5 foreigners abducted by ISIS near Derna in 2015
The DMSC claims to have found the bodies of 5 foreigners abducted by ISIS in March 2015. DMSC forces found the deceased during a combing operation in June 2015 and identified them after scrutinizing equipment and laptops seized in Derna following the defeat of ISIS in the area earlier in the year.
5-12 September: LNA and BM reinforce Oil Crescent region against ISIS resurgence
On 10 September, the commander of the LNA’s Sirte Operation Room declared that the entire coastal strip from Sidra to about 50km east of Sirte. On 8 September, the LNA reportedly defused a bomb attached to the main gas pipeline south of Ajdabiya. BM forces are positioned at the 30km checkpoint east of Sirte, and it is reported that BM arrested two people in a raid last week, fueling tensions with the local population.
30 Aug- 5 Sept: ISIS Claim Car Bomb Killing 4 in Nawfaliya
ISIS media claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a Libyan National Army (LNA) checkpoint at the entrance of al-Nawfaliya town, on 31 August. It was reported that ISIS units moved in to al-Teysseen, a town 90 kms east of Sirte, on 1 September. They allegedly held an Eid prayer in the local mosque and took positions in the town. The LNA air force launched a series of airstrikes targeting ISIS positions, from Ras Lanuf airstrip on 2 September.