The Islamic State’s supporters in Libya have continued their “wanted dead” campaign by targeting Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an al Qaeda leader who has long been loyal to Ayman al Zawahiri. The Islamic State’s men have released an online poster for Belmokhtar (seen above), just as they have done with dozens of other pro-al Qaeda jihadists in North Africa.

The posters are not just bluster. The “caliphate’s” arm in North Africa has specifically targeted some of the individuals identified, including leaders of the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in Derna, a jihadist coalition that has been engaged in heavy fighting against Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s fighters.

Indeed, in June, Baghdadi’s forces killed two veteran jihadists in Derna. The MSC then quickly routed the Islamic State’s branch from its strongholds in the city, pushing most of the fighting to Derna’s suburbs.

The Islamic State is attempting to strike back. The Islamic State says its opponents in Libya and elsewhere are part of the “awakenings.” This term is used to disparage its jihadist rivals, including the MSC, lumping them in with the American-backed tribes and fighters who battled al Qaeda during the height of the Iraq War. In reality, the MSC has nothing in common with America’s allies in western Iraq.

Belmokhtar is the most prominent al Qaeda operative listed in the “wanted dead” campaign thus far. And the Islamic State’s men say he is part of the “awakenings,” too.

Belmokhtar leads Al Murabitoon, an al Qaeda group that operates in North and West Africa. Al Murabitoon recently released a statement saying that Belmokhtar had been selected to serve as its emir. The statement’s authors added “Al Qaeda in West Africa” to Al Murabitoon’s name. But online operatives quickly clarified that it should have simply read “Al Murabitoon – Al Qaeda,” dropping the “West Africa” part while still emphasizing their connection to Zawahiri’s international insurgency and terrorist organization.

Al Murabitoon’s decision to underscore its connection to al Qaeda was undoubtedly influenced by the uncertainty caused earlier this year when another leader in the group, Adnan Abu Walid al Sahrawi, swore allegiance to Baghdadi. Sahrawi claimed to speak on behalf of the entire Al Murabitoon group, but this was quickly proven false. Belmokhtar and his men remain firmly in al Qaeda’s camp.

The one-eyed Belmokhtar has been reported killed on at least several occasions, only to reemerge. According to Al Murabitoon and other al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups operating in North Africa, including al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Belmokhtar survived a June airstrike by the US in Libya. The US bombed a jihadist meeting hosted by the Ajdabiya Shura Council (ASC), which is led by Ansar al Sharia, yet another al Qaeda-linked group.

Interestingly, local press reports out of North Africa claimed that Belmokhtar was expected to attend the meeting, which was part of his effort to coordinate the opposition to the Islamic State’s presence in Libya. However, this and other details concerning the meeting cannot be easily verified.

Regardless, members of the Islamic State’s Libyan arm clearly see Belmokhtar as a threat.

As The Long War Journal reported earlier this month, one of the “wanted dead” posters (seen on the right) put a former Egyptian special forces officer named Hisham Ali Ashmawi in the Islamic State’s crosshairs. In late July, Ashmawi was featured in a video posted online by “Al Murabitoon,” which is either part of Belmokhtar’s operation or an allied entity in Egypt. The video makes it clear that Ashmawi is loyal to Ayman al Zawahiri.

Egyptian officials allege that Ashmawi has been involved in a string of assassinations, including a car bombing that killed Egypt’s chief prosecutor in June.

According to Baghdadi’s loyalists, Ashmawi “joined the awakenings council” (the MSC) and “participated in the war on the Islamic State in the city of Derna.” The Islamic State has other reasons for its animosity, too. Ashmawi became a member of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM), a Sinai-based group that pledged allegiance to Baghdadi in November 2014 and was then rebranded as the Islamic State’s “Sinai province.” Ashmwai joined ABM after returning from the jihad in Syria in 2013. But Ashmawi did not join his ABM comrades when they switched allegiance to Baghdadi. Instead, he is part of an ABM cadre that remained in al Qaeda’s network.

The Islamic State’s “wanted dead” poster for Ashmawi says he has “ties” to Belmokthar. If true, then this is a strong piece of evidence that the two “Al Murabitoon” groups (Belmokhtar’s and Ashmawi’s) are indeed connected.

Another graphic (seen on the right) identifies one of Ashmawi’s alleged colleagues. The jihadist is identified as Imad al Din Ahmad Mahmud Abdul Hamid, a “close friend” of Ashmawi who was also a member of the Egyptian armed forces before joining ABM. Abdul Hamid then broke from ABM and supposedly joined the “Apostate Awakenings Council” (MSC) in Derna.

The Islamic State’s poster describes Abdul Hamid as Ashmawi’s “right hand man” and as the “mastermind” of Ashmawai’s plans. He supposedly attempts to hide his identity, which the Islamic State’s supporters have now gladly shared.

The commander of the Libyan armed forces, General Khalifa Haftar, arrived in the Jordanian capital Amman.

According the Jordanian news agency Petra, while in Jordan he was to meet with chairman of the Jordanian Joint Chiefs-of-Staff General Mishal Al-Zaben, King Abdullah’s military adviser, for talks “issues of common concern” as well as regional developments.

The visit follows the Arab League’s decision on Wednesday to authorise Arab states to provide military support to Libya for the fight against Islamic State forces in Sirte and elsewhere. The decision did not specifically state approval for Arab airstrikes against IS, which Libya had requested, but it is seen as including it.

Jordan, along with Egypt and the UAE, had strongly backed Libya’s appeal and Hafter’s visit to Amman is seen as directly linked. Following the Jordan visit, it has also been reported that Hafter would be heading to Cairo for talks with Egyptian military leaders.

Hafter last visited Amman in April when he was received by King Abdullah. Talks on that occasion focused on the threat from IS and other terrorists, potential Jordanian military support for Libya and cooperation on training.

Prior to this latest trip, Hafter was in Pakistan for talks at the country’s military General Head Quarters in Rawalpindi with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif. Other than an announcement that the two had discussed “matters of mutual interest”, there was no statement about the purpose of the visit.

A bus full of Hamas operatives traveling through the Sinai Peninsula was stopped abruptly on Thursday, and initial reports stated that four members of Hamas—a Palestinian rival terrorist organization headquartered in Gaza—had been abducted by terrorists loyal to the Islamic State.

In all likelihood, it was Egyptian authorities who intercepted the Hamas members, who were purportedly on their way to receive military training in Iran.

The group initially believed to be responsible for the act is now called the Sinai Province (of the Islamic State). The terror outfit used to be known as Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, which had close ties with several Sunni jihadist organizations before its leadership aligned with ISIS.

But new information surfaced on Friday that led analysts in the region to believe that Egyptian authorities arrested the Hamas militants, who were reportedly members of an elite “naval commando” unit within the Palestinian terror group.

The Times of Israel, in its report, identified the suspected “kidnappers” as members of an Egyptian intelligence unit.

The Hamas jihadis were reportedly making their way to Cairo, where they would then take a flight to Iran for military training, the Times of Israel reported.

Egypt has responded to the nefarious activities of Hamas by closing its Rafah border, Al-Ahram Arabic reported Friday. The crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip with Egypt, allowed some 6,329 people to pass through from Monday to Thursday.

Hamas has condemned the kidnapping, calling on Egypt to free their militants. Hamas “is making contact with the Egyptian security authorities to ensure they comply with their responsibilities in securing the lives of the abductees and return them to their country,” the militant group said in a statement.

Hamas “demands the immediate return of the abductees and to arrest the perpetrators so as not to affect Palestinian-Egyptian relations at a time when all parties are seeking to consolidate this relationship,” the statement added.

The son of a former Sudanese Islamist leader is reported to have been killed fighting for the Islamic State (IS) in Sirte.

Abdul-Ilah Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza, is said to have been shot during last week’s fighting and died before reaching hospital. According to the Sudan Tribune, his family in Khartoum his family learned of his death and mourned him yesterday. They added that the 24-year-old had gone to Libya, via Mali, with a yunger brother, Mohamed, to fight with IS.

The family have had a history of militancy. His late father, Abu Zaid Mohamed Hamza, was leader of a hardline splinter movement from the Salafist group Jamaat Ansar al Sunnah.

Another brother, Abdul Raouf Abu Zeid Muhammad Hamza, was sentencd to death in 2010 along with three other men for the murder on 1 January 2008 of an American USAID worker John Michael Granville and his Sudanese driver, Abdel Rahman Abbas, as they were leaving a New Year’s Eve party at the British Embassy in Khartoum. All four managed to excape prison before the sentence was carried out, although Abdul Raouf was later said to have been recaptured and last reports said he as still in jail in Khartoum. He was designated a terrorist by the US.

Both sides of the political divide in Libya appear to have been galvanized into action by IS’ repression of last week’s uprising in Sirte but there is no sign of any cooperation.

House of Representatives member for Sidra Saleh Fhaima told the Libya Herald that events in Sirte would be the main issue in  Monday’s sitting in Tobruk although there were also plans to discuss the planned national unity government. He also said that that following an HoR appeal to the army’s general staff for action, it was now preparing an attack force.

Meanwhile, the head of Sirte military police which supports the Tripoli-based Libya Dawn regime is reported saying that western units were now on the outskirts of Sirte and were awaiting orders to launch an offensive against the Islamic State (IS). This would happen, he claimed, within the next few days.

For his part, Ibrahim Jadhran based in Ajdabiya has also called for action, but says that his forces have insufficient equipment to fight IS. Calling for more arms, he said that his men had just enough to protect the oilfields.

Today, there were reports of fresh air attacks in Sirte, hitting IS targets at the university and the municipal buildings. Sounds of heavy explosions were heard, although the outcome of the strike is not known.

On Tuesday, the Arab League is to meet to consider Libya’s demand for Arab airstrike against IS. The Libyan demand is said to be supported by Egypt following a meeting between Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Al-Dairi and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

Since the “Arab Spring,” Libya has been divided into areas controlled by the temporary government, militia forces aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, and Islamic State (ISIS) – and it appears the UN has no intentions of returning stability to the fractured north African state and stopping ISIS’s march in the country.

The temporary government, headed by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani and centered in the eastern city of Al Bayda, has issued a call to the UN Security Council (UNSC), asking for immediate intervention to prevent ISIS massacres in the city of Sirte in the west of the country.

However, Libya’s Ambassador to the UN Ibrahim al-Dabashi expressed his pessimism that the Security Council would in fact take action.

In an interview with the London-based Arabic paper Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Dabashi said on Sunday that the UNSC will not agree to arm the Libyan army before a national consensus government is formed – even if ISIS conquers all of Libya and beheads all of its citizens first.

Al-Dabashi accused the Security Council of “encouraging” the massacres conducted by ISIS and being partners to the crimes.

According to the UN representative, every weapon-bearing Libyan citizen who does not take part in the war against ISIS is a “coward” and is an accomplice to the crimes, and they should expect to be killed like the rest when ISIS arrives.

Many families have fled Sirte, the birthplace of Libya’s former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, after ISIS executed 73 youths there including children under the age of 14, and proceeded to burn their bodies on the coast. ISIS likewise beheaded 12 others and crucified their bodies.

ISIS’s presence in Libya hit headlines in February when it broadcast the brutal mass execution of 21 Coptic Christians, triggering reprisal air raids from Egypt and a mass-exodus of Egyptian workers from the country.

In March, ISIS terrorists published a video in which they vowed that their conquest in Libya will serve as a springboard for a European invasion.

An army commander and and a soldier were killed by an armed group, in the locality of Colo, in the upper woods of the province of Skikda, 400 km eastern Algeria, local media reported on Saturday.

Quoting a security source, TSA news website said the two troopers were killed during an armed clash with a terrorist group. The source added that the troops were conducting a dragging operation in the woods of Colo, where an armed group of about 30 elements was perceived two weeks ago.

Additional units backed up by helicopters were deployed in the scene to track down the assailants.

Last months, as many as 11 troops were killed in an ambush in the province of Ain Defla, 145 km south eastern Algiers.

While Libyan troops clash with ISIL militants in attempts to take control of the city of Sirte in the south of Libya, state authorities are urging world powers to unite in the battle against the jihadist group and carry out airstrikes on its positions across the country.