ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
from strengthening already established footholds in the area.
Fighting mainly took place on the eastern border with Syria,
especially near Arsal.
In consecutive skirmishes between January 27 and January
30, Jabhat al-Nusra clashed with IS in the eastern surroundings
of Arsal, leaving at least 34 militants dead. On February
3, LAF killed six IS militants, arrested another 16, and confiscated
weapons and vehicles during an operation with aerial
support in Arsal. On February 23, the brother of one of the
nine soldiers who had been kidnapped by IS on 08/02/14
called for peaceful demonstrations three days later against
the lack of government support for the soldiers.
In an attack on IS positions between Ras Balbeek and Qaa,
Beqaa Governorate, on March 10, LAF killed nine IS members,
using helicopters and ground troops, while IS killed one
soldier and wounded another eight. On March 27 and 28,
clashes erupted between Jabhat al-Nusra and IS over positions
in the Lebanese-Syrian border region in the Qalamoun
mountains as well as in Ras Balbeek and Arsal, resulting in
the death of 18 Jabhat al-Nusra and 14 IS fighters. Hezbollah
attacked IS positions with artillery in Ras Balbeek and in
the Qalamoun mountains on April 4 and 9, destroying arms
and ammunition depots and killing several militants. On May
18 and 19, LAF killed at least 24 IS fighters in the Balbeek
highlands, Beqaa Governorate, by shelling artillery and firing
missiles. In another operation in the same region on May 25,
LAF killed 15 IS members.
In two waves of each four suicide bombings on June 27, alleged
IS members killed at least six civilians and injured another
28, including four soldiers, in Qaa, a predominantly
Christian village. In reaction, LAF arrested over 100 alleged
militants in raids on Syrian refugee camps in Qaa and Ras
Balbeek. On July 2, Hezbollah killed several IS militants near
Arsal and Ras Balbeek. On August 12, Lebanese authorities
detained three Saudi women in Lebanon's capital Beirut, who
were reportedly en route to Syria with their seven children
to join IS, and deported them back to Saudi Arabia. During
an operation in the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh,
South Lebanon, military intelligence units arrested Imad Yassine,
emir of IS in Lebanon, on September 22. Continuing its
legal prosecution of militants, Yassine and 17 other alleged
IS members were charged with belonging to a terrorist organization
by a military court on October 17. Nine days later,
IS militants attacked Fatah al-Sham positions near the Sirj
al-Nammoura checkpoint close to the Jaroud crossing on the
Syrian border. During ensuing clashes, several militants from
both groups were killed. On December 4, an IS fighter attacked
an army checkpoint, killed one soldier, and wounded
another in Bqaa Sifrin, Dinnieh region, North Governorate.
Three days later, LAF arrested several militants in Dinnieh.
(twt, vs, mhb, svp)
LIBYA
In Libya, confrontations involving IS and armed forces of competing
state institutions and its affiliates were concentrated
around the western city of Sabratha, the central city of Sirte,
as well as the cities of Benghazi and Derna in the east [→
Libya (opposition)].
In the course of the year, IS retreated from its remaining positions
in Derna's eastern Neighborhood 400 and nearby al-
Fata'ih area after it had largely been driven out by the Derna
Mujahedeen Shoura Council (DMSC) in June 2015.
The group was also pushed back in Benghazi by the Libyan
National Army (LNA) under the leadership of Khalifa Haftar.
Moreover, in a UN-backed government operation led by Misratan
brigades Sirte was seized from IS. The city had been IS'
most significant stronghold outside of Iraq and Syria.
Sabratha, al-Zawiya district, was heavily affected by combat
action between mid-February and the beginning of March.
On February 19, US F-15 fighter jets bombarded a suspected
IS camp, killing approx. 50 people, including two abducted
Serbian diplomats. The strike targeted Tunisian national
Noureddine ''Sabir” Chouchane, believed to have been involved
in the IS attacks on the Bardo National Museum and
a beach resort in Sousse, Tunisia, last year. On February 23,
when local brigades from Sabratha attacked suspected IS positions
outside the city, 150 to 200 IS militants raided its
center, entered the local security directorate and beheaded
eleven policemen. IS forces retreated after clashes with the
Sabrathan forces that left six of the latter dead. In the following
days, the brigades and armed residents supported
by fighters from neighboring towns attacked IS hideouts. In
ensuing encounters, about 50 IS opponents were killed by
February 27. On March 2, security forces raided an IS position
south of Sabratha, killing eight IS members. Reportedly,
shortly before the raid IS had shot two abducted Italians
dead. The next day, an aircraft targeted IS militants in the
area, killing seven.
South of the capital Tripoli, in al-Jabal al-Gharbi district, fourday
lasting clashes erupted on March 9 between IS and LNAaligned
mainly Zintan and Warshefana tribal forces, after IS
fighters had erected a roadblock south of the town of Mizdah.
Five LNA-affiliated fighters were killed in the battle by IS militants
who were forced to retreat. East of the capital, in the
town of Zliten, Murqub district, an IS suicide attacker detonated
a truck bomb at a police training center, killing at least
47 people and wounding more than a hundred, on January 7.
In neighboring Misrata district, IS forces conducted several
raids. On May 5, for instance, IS attacked the strategically important
village of Abu Qurayn with two car bombs and forced
Misratan militiamen to retreat. In the following week, confrontations
also erupted in the town of al-Sadadah. IS killed
more than a dozen security forces and wounded over a hundred.
The militant group also took control of several villages
in Misrata and Sirte districts near Abu Qurayn.
In the beginning of May, the UN-backed Presidency Council
(PC) of the Government of National Accord (GNA) declared
a large scale-operation against IS in Sirte. Several thousand
fighters, largely composed of Misratan former Libya Dawn
brigades, were involved in the UN-backed government's campaign
named ''al-Bunyan al-Marsous” (BM) against an estimated
number of 2,000 to 5,000 IS militants in Sirte. Prior
to the operation, around 5,500 families fled Sirte. The competing
eastern government's LNA had also announced their
own military operation against IS. The force had not joined
the UN-backed initiative and its operation remained limited
to the deployment of troops [→ Libya (Opposition)].
In mid-May, Misratan brigades, also employing airstrikes, retook
Abu Qurayn and advanced into Sirte district, causing the
death of more than 30 BM personnel and the wounding of
50 on May 18 alone. BM forces successively gained control
over the city of Sirte, engaging in a seven-months long bat-
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