ISIS regrouping in western Libya

Amira al-Sharif

Terrorist groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), are using deteriorating security conditions in Libyan capital Tripoli to return to the scene in it.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a security post in Tripoli on Tuesday. Observers said the bomber had most likely belonged to ISIS which started regaining strength in Tripoli, ever since the Libyan National Army (LNA) pulled out of it.

The attack was carried out in Genzrou district. It was carried out by a man riding a motorcycle, who blew himself up as soon as he drove near the security post.

Eyewitnesses referred to an abnormal movement around the Sidi Belal camp where hundreds of Turkish mercenaries are concentrated.

The same eyewitnesses say a rebellion might be brewing among the mercenaries.

This attack follows another that took place on Monday inside al-Yarmouk camp which is controlled by the Syrian mercenaries transferred to Libya by Turkey.

Fire was seen bellowing out of the buildings of the camp.

The LNA said, meanwhile, that three Syrian mercenaries were killed by unidentified gunmen in Tripoli.

The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College said in a recent study that ISIS is regrouping and expanding its presence secretly.

It added that the radical organization might soon become a powerful party to the conflict in Libya and a renewed challenge for the country.

The institute noted that the disappearance of the organization in the past years does not mean that it had already lost its power.

It said ISIS can return to the Libyan stage through a number of criminal activities, including human trafficking and he trafficking of drugs.

The institute said ISIS can easily acquire arms.

Local sources said ISIS is regrouping in the Sabratah in the western part of Tripoli.

This comes after the organization was kicked out of the city in 2016.