Libya’s Unity Government Prime Minister Fayez Seraj today announced that his faction has every intention of defeating ISIS by themselves, insisting that he welcomed other Libyan forces to join under his command for the big fight.
“We are sure that the battle and the eradication of Islamic State will be carried out by the Libyans,” Seraj added, touting previous fighting by his own forces as “good achievements” considering the relatively small force of fighters he has.
Indeed, the heavy fighting so far has been done by the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), but with those troops out attacking ISIS on the highways, they’re also not guarding their facilities as well. The main “army” in Libya is farther east, and mostly loyal to the Tobruk government.
ISIS controls parts of Libya’s central coast, including the city of Sirte. After pushing toward Misrata along the highway they’ve mostly been stopped, and Libyan officials from several factions are trying to take credit for this change in fortune.