Action – 7 September 2015

Sep 7, 2015 | ISIS

IS militants are said to have taken control of large swaths of the Suq al-Hout district in Benghazi, which has now been almost fully abandoned by its inhabitants. IS militants in Sirte are currently doing their utmost to consolidate their control of the city, not just by eliminating pockets of resistance and increasing their military control over the city, but also implementing their governance vision based on a strict interpretation of Islamic scriptures.

After the initial emotional reaction registered throughout the country to events in Sirte, talks of a military intervention against IS cells in the city by either or both of the national-level blocs have died down over the past two weeks. This is due to the fact that the two national blocs have no incentive to co-operate militarily for freeing a city seen as the beacon of Qadhafi loyalists. Furthermore, the paucity of military supplies for both sides further diminishes the likelihood that either bloc will re-shuffle its forces and military assets from other hot spots to Sirte for what would likely turn out to be a long street-by-street fight along the lines of the one occurring in Benghazi.