On February 21, a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) of ISIS attacked a checkpoint of the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the district of Jufra in central Libya, according to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq.
Amaq claimed that fifteen LNA soldiers had been killed and injured in the SVBIED attack. Two vehicles of the LNA were reportedly destroyed.
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An unnamed official of the LNA’s operations room in the Jufra district confirmed to the Chinese Xinhua news agency that an LNA checkpoint in the western part of the district had been fully destroyed as a result of the SVBIED attack.
The Libya al-A’an TV revealed on February 22 that five soldiers of the LNA had been killed and fifteen others were injured in the SVBIED attack.
Over the last month, ISIS cells in southern Libya have stepped up its attacks against the LNA in the Jufra district. Xinhua reported that ISIS fighters had launched two hit and run attacks on positions of the LNA in Jufra on February 2 and 3. Four LNA soldiers were killed in these attacks, according to the source.
ISIS cells may be trying to capture five large oil fields, whiich are located near the village of Zella in the northern part of the Jufra district. These oil fields could provide ISIS cells with the money they need to reorganize and arm their fighters in order to establish a foothold of ISIS in Libya, once again.
