Anthony Razaq)
The Islamic State is expanding its control in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, said the spokesman of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Brigadier-General Abdel Fattah al-Khatib.
Khatib is one of three officials at the LNA.
The LNA forces, backed by the U.N.-backed Mission for the Protection of Civilians in Libya (MaSIC), have been trying for weeks to take control of Derna from al Qaeda’s North African franchise.
But the militants have so far resisted advances by the fighters, taking heavy casualties on multiple occasions despite efforts by the LNA and its international backers to make the fight more difficult for the militants.
Daesh, and allied groups formed by the U.N.-backed Libyan National Congress and the Libyan National Army, have recently been gaining territory in eastern Libya and have overrun towns such as Derna, which they use as a crossing point to move from Iraq into neighboring Syria and Iraq.
According to al-Shami, around half of Derna is under the control of militants, and it is estimated that the remaining half is in the hands of the SNA. Last month, the militants used mortars and booby traps to fire at MaSIC forces besieging Derna for over two days.
Al-Shami further alleged that the SNA had carried out two mortar attacks on MaSIC positions at the eastern entrance to the city of Misurata yesterday.
He said that the SNA and its allies used the same mortar rounds in the attacks as the LNA and ISIS.
The MaSIC said in a statement that it was aware of the death of Abdul Fattah al-Khatib and was conducting its own probe into the claims. In a separate statement, it also said that al-Shami “is claiming personal knowledge of the martyrdom of our martyr.”
Earlier on Saturday, Derna had come under ISIS control for the first time. Reports of the SNA takeover of Derna circulated online on Friday and the LNA confirmed the takeover on Saturday morning.
The SNA is the Libyan affiliate of the International Committee of the Red Cross, founded by the Red Cross in 1970.
ISIS, which emerged in Iraq in 2014, has taken over large swathes of territory in both Syria and