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Islamic State in Libya: six media releases since the start of the civil war near Tripoli on April 4, the first tagged "Barqah" and the others tagged "Fezzan". This is the area of operations for now 
The six media releases signaling the comeback of the Islamic State in Libya: raids on little towns and road ambushes starting in al Fuqaha on April 14, then moving near Sabha and insisting on Ghadduwah
Note: it's the same marauding column of the Islamic State in Libya moving between al Fuqaha and Ghadduwah. See the same guy in April 14 (tagged "Barqah"), April 16 and April 25 (tagged "Fezzan") releases
And see the same combo vehicle + ZPU anti-aircraft gun near Ghadduwah on April 25 and north of Sabha on May 4
In short: the military comeback of the Islamic State in Libya for now is a single column of technicals and 30 men exploiting the void left in Southern Libya by the civil war near Tripoli
Forecast: under the same favorable circumstances, that single column of the Islamic State in Libya will start to attract a number of volunteers – from Libya and abroad – before the end of summer
Clarification: Islamic State in Libya is not just "30 men". That's more or less the number of fighters in the open acting as a guerrilla group, looking for targets, ready to engage. As far as we know, their quiet network in Libya could be anything from a few dozens up to hundreds
I wonder if Jalaluddin al Tunisi or Abdel Qader al Najdi – the big names sent by Baghdadi to lead the Islamic State in Libya years ago and allegedly still alive – are in that small column of technicals wandering in Libyan Fezzan. Guess they aren't.
The marauding convoy of the Islamic State in Libya between April 14 and May 18:
1- night raid on al Fuqaha
2- night raid on Ghadduwah
3- road ambush north of Sabha
4- attack on LNA base near Sabha
5- daytime raid on Ghadduwah
6- attack on LNA checkpoint Zilla (many losses)
1- night raid on al Fuqaha
2- night raid on Ghadduwah
3- road ambush north of Sabha
4- attack on LNA base near Sabha
5- daytime raid on Ghadduwah
6- attack on LNA checkpoint Zilla (many losses)
How is this resurgence of the Islamic State in the Libyan Fezzan operating? After five weeks of operations, here's what I'd say
They are probably organized in three networks. The first is the Muscle, the fighting column we see in the propaganda pics. The second is the Brain network – sitting somewhere, maybe near Ghadduwah or East of al Fuqaha
I'd say Ghadduwah because in October 2018 they raided al Foqaha and took hostages – then LNA freed hostages, they were near Ghadduwah. In April 2019 Islamic State fighters raided al Foqaha again, targeted same hostages and then moved again to Ghadduwah. It's a pattern
Or, I'd say East of al Fuqaha because of the difficult terrain near the great volcanic field of Haruj
The third is the network of informants/logistics, feeding the other groups. The less guarded targets? The safest routes? The kill list in a town? Also: providing water, food, fuel at meeting points
About the first one, the muscle: the propaganda is showing just a part of the fighters. Never more than 5 vehicles and 16 men in the same pic. But witnesses talked about at least 13 vehicles in al Fuqaha on April 14 and six vehicles in Zilla on May 18
Compare their most crowded pics up to date (15 and 16 men) with the latest picture posted one week ago by the cousins of the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (more than 60). That's a bit deceptive.
They arguably don't want to publish a drone-ready list of their vehicles and crews. And they carry their stuff with them for prolonged trips out in the open
At least 1.000 kilometers in five weeks, mostly in Fezzan. They wish to be an Islamic State version of the Long Range Desert Group, a British raiding unit in Libya during the WWII which successfully operated much closer to the coastal road between Tripoli and Benghazi
OnMay 18 after the raid near Zillah the Battalion 128 of LNA intercepted them and killed at least seven. Not posting the pics here, just one taken from facebook. Many had explosive belts – one blew himself up.
We don't know much about the dead, maybe one or two were important, maybe not. One allegedly is "Ahmad bin Naser", from Benghazi, a veteran – according to one of the facebook pages of LNA's Battalion 128. Never heard of him before
The members of the fighting column are taking civilian and military hostages but they can't travel with them. They quickly transfer the hostages to the second group – the Brain, which is more sedentary – and leave for other targets. Hostages mean ransom and a coming video
The second group is where the foreign leaders sit – if any of them is still alive. They have the prisoners, they talk to the mothership in Syria/Iraq, they plan, they collect raw media stuff (al Naba recently quoted an anonymous "military emir of Fezzan", no names for now)
Update about the marauding convoy of the Islamic State in Libya – according to @KhaledDernah3 the attackers near Zellah were a "saraya al sahara", a desert unit of the Islamic State in Libya of no more than 20 men
Allegedly that saraya was totally destroyed by LNA: 18 killed. I count only 10 bodies in the pics. We are not sure whether it was the same unit which attacked al Fuqaha and Ghadduwah, no matches in the photos. We'll find out in the next few weeks.
That saraya is named after "Abu Tariq al Dernawi". Thought he was an Islamic State leader, but I checked and the name comes from a jihadist who fought against Gheddafi: Hamza Abu Chartila, born in Derna in 1967 and killed in Benghazi in 1999 – twenty years ago
The saraya was formed by four Libyans – identified – one Tunisian (only the kunya, Abu Suyuf al Tunisi) and the rest were black fighters from unspecified places. Allegedly operating around Maradah
This thread is following the activities of the islamic State in Libya since the start of the civil war near Tripoli on April 4. It goes on
Today al Naba (183) provides the Islamic State's version about the raid in Zellah on May 18. "Haftar forces chased the attackers till north of al Fuqaha and were ambushed. Six hours of fighting, 27 casualties"
"The ambush started with a IED and the dead were mostly المعارضة السودانية (Sudanese opposition)". For now, not a single pic or footage to support those claims. For sure they have stuff for a video at this point
Al Naba provides a new picture captioned: "Soldiers of the Caliphate in Libya while preparing for one of the raids". Looking at the vehicles (never seen before), I now suspect their units are at least two
Thread Update – Until 2 days ago the question was: is the short revival of the Libyan Islamic State already over after the clash near Zellah, where they were chased and suffered losses? I mean the caravan fighting in the open not the quiet network which is always there of course
The wandering unit of the Islamic State in Southern/Central Libya posted a few photos on the last day of May. The photos could be old and proved nothing except in the unit they are so afraid to be geolocated they use a quite narrow framing
Then on June 3 at dawn they attacked at least 2 military spots near al Fuqaha. One of the places had already been targeted (August 2017, 9 LNA men beheaded). They claim a brief takeover and the killing of soldiers. Military sources deny, managed to repel attacks no casualties
So, Libyan Islamic State is still able to attack even if on May 18 near Zellah suffered many casualties (up to 18 men). Probably larger than pictured. One of the fighters pictured in the claim of the latest attack was already in the photos of the attack on al Fuqaha in mid April
Even more important. Libyan Islamic State also claiming a double bomb attack in Derna, 19 casualties. That's a separate cell. They were forced out of Derna in April 2017 by rival groups – the town is currently under LNA control. This is their first attack there since a while
Meant: 2016
