Libya: the eastern town of Derna is emerging as a new Islamic State stronghold
With Libya engulfed in chaos, the town of Derna in the east of the
country is emerging as a new stronghold for the Islamic State group,
experts say.
The North African state has been wracked by
instability since the overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011,
providing a fertile ground for extremists.
IS fighters have
already swept across Iraq and Syria, and their leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi recently boasted of vows of allegiance from militants in
Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Some Western
observers consider Derna, a town of 150,000, to be the home of a third
IS franchise in North Africa, after Jund al-Khilifa in Algeria and
Egypt's Ansar Beit al-Maqdis declared their support earlier this year.
"The
Islamic State is in Derna. It's well documented. There's no doubt,"
said Othman Ben Sassi, a former member of the now-disbanded Transitional
National Council, the political arm of the rebellion that overthrew
Gaddafi. The group is exploiting "the absence of state authority and
porous borders," he added.
Statements and images have for several
weeks circulated on extremist forums claiming to depict gatherings of
"Libyan jihadists" belonging to IS - prompting concern in Washington.
"We
have seen reports that violent extremists (in Libya) have pledged
allegiance to IS and are looking to associate themselves with it," said
State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke.
Libyan authorities have
struggled to control militant groups as well as powerful militias which
ousted Gaddafi, and the internationally recognised government has been
forced to take refuge in the far east of the oil-rich country.
‘IDEOLOGICAL FIGHT’
Derna
and large areas of Benghazi, Libya's second city, have served as
strongholds for radical groups including Ansar al-Sharia, classed by the
UN as a terrorist organisation.
In April, an offshoot of the
group announced it had implemented Islamic sharia law in Derna. The
self-proclaimed "Shura Council of Islamic Youth" has reportedly opened
Islamic courts and established a religious police force in the town.
Dozens
of masked members have appeared in military fatigues, regularly
parading in pick-up trucks brandishing rocket launchers and heavy
machine guns, and toting the black and white flag used by militants.
In
August the Shura Council posted a video online appearing to show the
public execution in a Derna football stadium of an Egyptian man accused
of murder.
But the group has yet to formally pledge allegiance to IS, and analysts say there are divisions within its ranks.
"Several
extremists in Derna are attracted to IS. But the majority of senior
jihadists in Libya are former Al-Qaeda members and there is an
ideological fight between IS and Al-Qaeda partisans," said a Libyan
expert on militants who did not want to be named.
The UN this
month branded Ansar al-Sharia a terrorist organisation owing to its
affiliation with Al-Qaeda's North African franchise. "The decision was
based on reliable intelligence," the Libyan expert said. "Ansar
al-Sharia has closer ties to Al-Qaeda than to any other group."
‘ISLAMIC EMIRATE’
According
to Claudia Gazzini, Libya analyst at International Crisis Group, some
Derna factions have pledged allegiance to IS, but it is unclear which
ones and how much support they enjoy.
"There is a misguided
tendency to automatically associate the establishment of Islamic courts
and the killings of soldiers with an IS agenda," she said.
Derna
was already considered by many analysts to be a de-facto "Islamic
emirate", entirely free from state control, before the reported claims
of allegiance to IS. The town has long been suspected of harbouring and
training foreign fighters who then go on to fight in Iraq and Syria,
where IS has declared a "caliphate" and imposed its harsh interpretation
of Islamic law.
"There are factions in Derna who reportedly swore
allegiance to IS in the search for a group that could unify the Muslim
community," said a former Libyan official who also asked not to be named
for security reasons.
"But ideological differences between
jihadist groups and the international coalition offensive against IS
means these factions have so far opted for discretion, or have gone to
fight in Iraq and Syria," the former official added.
According to one resident of Derna, life in the town goes on largely as normal - for most people.
"You
go out, you do your chores, you visit friends. No one bothers you," the
resident said. "But if you are a policeman, a soldier or a lawyer,
you're dead."
Source: channelnewsasia.com
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