OVERVIEW

ISIS-Libya flag

ISIS-Libya (ISIS-L) is one of several terrorist groups that emerged in the aftermath of Libya’s two civil wars, seeking to establish an anti-Western Islamic caliphate in Libya. The group has conducted terrorist attacks, kidnappings, and executions against a wide range of targets in North Africa. It originated in 2012 as the Battar Brigade, a group of Libyans in Syria fighting for ISIS. Brigade members, who later returned to Darnah, Libya, formed the Islamic Youth Shura Council, which became ISIS-L in October 2014 after then–ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi accepted its loyalty pledge. ISIS-L’s multiple attacks include the kidnapping and beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in 2015. The group has also sought to expand ISIS’s presence into other African countries.

After CT pressure that included US airstrikes and the loss of its base in Sirte to Libyan government forces in 2016, ISIS-L retreated into the desert areas of central Libya to rebuild its forces. By December 2018, ISIS-L’s reconstituted strength was sufficient for the group to resume attacks in major population centers. Since then, ISIS-L has focused on traditional terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare involving small bands of fighters operating from ungoverned spaces in Libya, attacking mostly Libyan military and security forces.

OPERATING AREA
ISIS-L operates in rural central and southern Libya. In recent years, the group has operated from bases in ungoverned desert areas of Libya.

MEMBERS
Approximately 100 to 500 fighters, as of 2020; at its peak in 2015 and 2016, the group’s members grew to as many as 6,000, consisting mainly of Libyans and other North Africans who had served as foreign fighters in Syria.

TACTICS AND TARGETS
Since 2018, ISIS-L has operated in decentralized guerilla-style desert “brigades” and networked cells. The group targets military and security forces, oil facilities, and entities and individuals associated with Libya's competing governments. ISIS-L also targets symbolic state organizations and facilities, such as Libya’s electoral commission headquarters and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ISIS-L uses small arms, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, light and heavy machineguns, landmines, and IEDs.

FOREIGN TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US Department of State designated ISIS-L as a foreign terrorist organization on 20 May 2016.

KEY LEADERS

NOTABLE ATTACKS