7 Killed, 30 Wounded Marching on ISIS HQ in Libya

Militants Opened Fire on Protesters Marching Against Site

The Libyan city of Derna, home of the nation’s largest al-Qaeda faction as well as ISIS, continues to experience unrest today as a group of protesters marched against the ISIS headquarters to protest against the Islamist faction, only for militants at the site to open fire, killing seven and wounding at least 30 others.

The ISIS group in Derna was originally a local Islamist faction called Jaish al-Islam, and pledged loyalty to ISIS in October. Since then, their stock has risen dramatically, and they’ve taken a lot of territory along the nation’s central coast.

ISIS is increasingly at odds with Derna’s other Islamist group, al-Qaeda’s Mujahadeen Shura Council, and the two sides got in a gunbattle earlier this week that left at least 22 killed, and appears to have set the stage for further fighting.

Details are scant, but in addition to the seven civilian protesters killed today in Derna there are reports that at least nine ISIS fighters were killed in attacks in various parts of the country by rival Islamist forces.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.