On 17 January, the LNA claimed to have killed the commander of ISIS’s desert brigades Mahdi Rajab Danqou. On 17 January, the Libyan Red Crescent branch in Misrata called on the Tunisian government to accept six children whose Tunisian parents fought for ISIS in Sirte in 2016.

On 7 January, Rada released information on individuals suspected of orchestrating recent ISIS attacks in Tripoli and the Oil Crescent. On 8 January, Fathi Bashaga suggests ISIS is operating freely in the greater Tripoli region. On 10 January, unconfirmed reports suggesting two ISIS fighters were arrested in Tripoli. On 9 January, the body of the former leader of ISIS in Libya, Abu Nabil al-Anbari, was uncovered in a mass grave in Derna.

On 1 January, LNA forces undertook security operations around Ghadduwah that resulted in the rescue of as many as 20 civilians captured by ISIS fighters during attacks by the group on al-Fuqaha and Tazerbu late last year.

On 27 December, ISIS’s al-Naba newsletter no. 162 outlined details of the group’s attack on the Libya’s Foreign Ministry in Tripoli on 25 December. On 23 December, thirty-four bodies of Ethiopian Christian nations killed by ISIS in 2016 were discovered in Sirte.

On 25 December, four ISIS fighters undertook a suicide attack on Libya’s foreign ministry in Tripoli, killing three people and wounding at least 21 more.

On 13 December, ISIS distributed leaflets threatening to attack security institutions and personnel in Rajban and Zintan.

On 8 December, ISIS executed six of the ten men they abducted in Fuqaha on 28 October after their demands to release their comrades was rejected.

On 1 December, the Libyan National Army arrested five ISIS members in Ubari. On 30 November, ISIS released its Naba newsletter No. 158 that featured an article detailing the group’s attack on the town of Tazirbu.

On 23 November, ISIS launched an assault on the town of Tazirbu, northwest of Kufra, leaving at least 8 dead, 11 wounded and 17 kidnapped. On 24 November, RADA arrested a suspected ISIS leader in the city of Bani Walid.

On 19 November, ISIS members established a checkpoint along the Sirte-Benghazi coastal road in the Wadi al-Hunaywah area near Sirte.

ISIS has attempted to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Fuqaha residents according to Libyan news outlets. On 9 November, security forces in the al-Manshia area of Sebha allegedly captured ISIS fighters.

On 3 November, ISIS fighters clashed with the Libyan National Army’s 128th Battalion near the al-Mabrouk oilfield south of Sirte.

On October 29, ISIS launched an assault on the village of Fuqaha in the Jufra district, leaving four dead and kidnapping at least nine others.

On 20 September, the LNA’s 128th Battalion and the Tariq Ibn Ziyad Brigade uncovered an ISIS camp near Harawah village, east of Sirte. On 16 October, local security forces undertook a raid in Bani Walid, arresting three suspected ISIS fighters.

On October 12, ISIS member Abdelhakim al-Mashout was arrested. On 11 October, ISIS fighters established mobile checkpoints south of Sirte. On 14 October, the 128 Battalion captured the leader of ISIS in the Nawfaliyah area. On 10 October, a mass grave was uncovered in the al-Thahir area previously controlled by ISIS west of the city.

Throughout last week the Sirte Protection Force (SPF) was on a state of alert following reports of the presence of ISIS fighters near Sirte. Several days before, the SPF posted photos of their manned checkpoints on the outskirts of the city.