Eastern Libyan forces declared that they killed the leader of the ISIS
Eastern Libyan forces reported on Wednesday that they killed the chief of the ISIS group in North Africa during an attack in the southern desert city of Sebha earlier this month.
In fact, the Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Masmari declared that Abu Moaz al-Iraqi was among nine militants that they killed during the assault however he was only identified after that.
It should be noted that ISIS in Libya was created by al Qaeda militants who exploited the chaos after the 2011 revolution against Muammar Gaddafi to control the territory and launch attacks, and the group controlled the central coastal city of Sirte in early 2015 and instituted a presence in the vast southern desert and also active affiliates or cells in major cities.
Nevertheless, it was expulsed from Sirte in late 2016 and then its influence has been restricted to occasional attacks including one on National Oil Corporation’s headquarters in 2018 and another at the Foreign Ministry in 2019, and both were in Tripoli.
Moreover, Masmari also reported that Abu Moaz al-Iraqi, also known as Abu Abdullah al-Iraqi, had entered Libya in 2014 and became the leader of the group in 2015 when his antecedent was killed.
The global threat of ISIS has reduced in recent years after its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria was militarily defeated and many of its leadership had killed. But, a security expert declares that it remains capable of making attacks around the world.
Otherwise, the LNA controls eastern and many of southern Libya and has been in conflict for years with the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.
