On 11 May, local sources from Sirte reported that ISIS fighters were seen moving in the valleys, southeast of the city. On 14 May, 20 Egyptian Coptic Christian killed by ISIS in 2015 near Sirte were returned back to Egypt.
Day: May 15, 2018
9 May – 15 May: DMSC rebrands itself as ‘the Derna Protection Force’
On 12 May, the DMSC announced it was dissolving itself and changing its name to ‘the Derna Protection Force’. On 15 May, the LNA’s Omar Mukhtar Operations Room claimed to have completely captured al-Hila, south of Derna, as a part of on going operations to take the city from the DMSC.
9 May – 15 May: Egypt foils “infiltration” attempt while UK issues formal apology for an extradition to Libya
On 10 May, the Egyptian army announced it had foiled an “infiltration attempt” across its western border with Libya after reportedly destroying 4 vehicles. This week the UK issued a formal apology for extraditing Abdul Hakim Belhadj, a former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and a key Feb17 military commander, to Qadhafi before the 2011 revolution.
9 May – 15 May: PC expand powers of Rada while fighting continues in southern Libya
On 11 May, the Presidential Council (PC) in Tripoli announced a decree that would significantly expand the powers of the Special Deterrent Forces (Rada). The GNA’s MoI established a new force called the ‘Special Operations Force’ (SOF). On 11 May, the Libyan Air Force had conducted strikes on fuel smugglers sites on the Libyan-Tunisian border. On 12 May, Tebu fighters managed to advance and take control of vital locations in south Sebha from their rivals the Awlad Suliman.