SUMMARY
In late June 2014, the Islamic State (IS) announced that it had established a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. The leader of the group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was appointed “caliph”. In September 2014, two representatives from IS - Abu al-Bara al-Azdi and Abu Habib al-Jazrawi – arrived in the eastern Libyan town Derna, where they were received by the Majlis Shura Shabab al-Islam (MSSI, or “Islamic Youth Shura Council”), a local militant group created by Libyans who had fought in the Syrian conflict and then returned to Libya. In October, MSSI together with parts of the ASL Derna-branch made a formal pledge of allegiance (bay’ah) to the IS leader al-Baghdadi, who accepted the pledge on 13 November. Following this, IS announced the creation of three wilayah (or “provinces”) in Libya: al-Barqa (east Libya), al-Tarabulus (northwest Libya), and al-Fizan (southwest Libya). For more detailed information regarding the emergence of IS in Libya, please consult the Libya: Islamic State conflict page.
When IS’ Libyan branch emerged in Derna, Libya was in the middle of a political and military crisis that had gradually escalated since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Capitalizing on the almost complete absence of functioning national security forces, a collection of militant Islamist groups that in December 2014 coalesced into the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council (which changed its name to DPF in mid-2018) and subsequently established control over parts of Derna. While the factions within the Derna mujahideen had been able to coexist with MSSI, the latter’s absorption into IS quickly soured the relationship between the two camps. As IS began to expand its presence in Derna by setting up administrative institutions – including courts and schools – it gradually intensified its attempts to persuade the Derna mujahideen to also pledge their allegiance to al-Baghdadi. However, much like its sister organization in Benghazi – the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council – the Derna mujahideen refused to join IS, most likely because it was affiliated with IS’ rivals al-Qaida. The tensions between the two groups eventually led to the killing of two senior Derna mujahideen commanders - Nasir Atiyah al Akar and Salim Derbi – by IS militants in June 2015.
The killings of al Akar and Derbi infuriated the Derna mujahideen, which declared “jihad” (or holy war) against IS. After just a few days of fierce clashed in June 2015, the Derna mujahideen had ejected IS from central Derna, forcing them to retreat to the Al Fatayih neighborhood at the edge of the town. The two groups continued to battle for control over Derna for the remainder of 2015. Aside from a major clash in July, the violence in Derna mostly took the form of tit-for-tat killings and minor clashes. The Derna mujahideen launched another major offensive against IS in early 2016, which led to the capture of Al Fatayih and other remaining IS pockets in April. As the surviving IS fighters retreated to Sirte, the Derna mujahideen declared that Derna was fully “liberated” on 21 April.
The non-state conflict between DPF and IS is first included in UCDP data in 2015. In June of that year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
