Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

The Anti-ISIS Coalition Makes First Real Gains in Libya

The UN-backed Government of National Accord’s Misratan-led Bunyan Al Marsus operation room made significant gains against IS this week, advancing to within 30km Sirte. So far the operation has cost 72 lives — mostly Misratan fighters — and over 150 injured. However, while the operations room is directly established by the GNA, other nominally anti-GNA militias have joined the fight. This constitutes the formation of a nascent anti-ISIS coalition. One that is actually fighting together rather than merely ‘talking about fighting’ as had heretofore been the case. We can therefore now consider the Bunyan Marsus created by the Government of National Accord (GNA) as the coordinating nucleus for an anti-ISIS coalition. The room is led by Colonel Bashir Al Gadi a military commander from Misrata. In Arabic, Bunyan Marsus means “the steadfast wall,” which is a saying from a Hadith (saying of the prophet Mohammed) that states “the belief to the believer is like the Bunyan Al Marsus.”

Three conflict dynamics were evident this week: 1) Significant momentum is being gained by the GNA’s assault on ISIS held territory between Misrata and Sirte. This offensive is led by the GNA’s anti-ISIS Banyan Marsus Operations Room with support of militias from the old Libya Dawn alliance. 2) Haftar’s LNA has lost the momentum it had been building up steadily from February until the beginning of May. Coupled together, these two dynamics indicate that all scenarios in the future remain open, whether tending to a political compromise and unification of military forces under the GNA’s command into a genuine anti-ISIS coalition or the opposite, more fragmentation of both the LNA and the GNA militias. 3) The military and security support of international actors for the GNA is increasing.

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

Dead Drop: July 18

IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION: CIA’s existential threat might not be what you think it is, the CIA’s EXDIR is back in business, a warning to be careful of [...] More

Does the CIA Have a Trust Problem?

Does the CIA Have a Trust Problem?

In a recent opinion piece published in The Cipher Brief, former senior CIA Executive Mark Kelton suggests that the country’s leading intelligence [...] More

Expert Q&A: Putin Overplayed His Hand with Trump on Ukraine

EXPERT Q&A — President Donald Trump has offered a strong hand of support to Ukraine in recent days, pledging new weapons and threatening Russia with [...] More

Report for Thursday, July 17, 2025

9:03 America/New_York Thursday, July 17 [...] More

A Nuclear Day of the Jackal

BOOK REVIEW: The Moldavian GambitBy Brad Meslin / Manhattan Book GroupReviewed by: James LawlerThe Reviewer — James Lawler devoted more than half of [...] More

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian cities with massive aerial assaults, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged [...] More

Report for Wednesday, July 16, 2025

8:45 AM America/New_York Wednesday, July 16 [...] More

China Can Do More to Improve Relations with the U.S.

OPINION — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the ASEAN Summit. Rubio described the [...] More

Report for Tuesday, July 15, 2025

8:57 AM America/New_York Tuesday, July 15 [...] More