Reloads, but Implodes: How the ‘Islamic State’ Fights in Libya

This chapter provides a historical overview of the birth of “Islamic State” in Libya, as of 22 June 2014. It aims to explain how the organisation was able to gradually develop their combat capacities in Libya since then. As a result of this, ISIS was able to take control of parts of Derna in October 2014, and the whole of Sirte by the end of May 2015. The occupations happened despite a lack of local support, state sponsorship or supportive geography. The chapter focuses on analysing the battlefronts of Derna and Sirte between June 2015 and December 2016, as a sample reflecting how IS fights in Libya. The chapter is partly based on interviews with soldiers and militiamen who fought against IS in the aforementioned battlefronts. It is also based on documents produced by ISIS in Libya, represented by two of its three former ‘provinces’: Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. The chapter also relies on official documents released by the US government, and on other open-source materials. The chapter is composed of six sections. First, it overviews the military build-up of IS in Libya since June 2014. Then, it outlines the details of the battlefronts of Derna and Sirte within specific timeframes. After that, it analyses how IS fights in Libya, using empirical data and observations from the two battlefronts and elsewhere in Libya. Finally, the concluding section reflects on the future of IS insurgency in Libya, after losing territory and shifting back to guerrilla and terrorism ways of warfare.