By Noorah Ibrahim.
Benghazi, 10 June 2015:
The IS man who was said by locals in Derna to have beheaded postal worker Abdulnabi Al-Shargawi in the town last week was himself killed in fighting today between IS and the Abu Sleem Brigade.
There are unconfirmed reports that the body of the killer, named as Abdul Rahman Mikraz, was dragged from the hospital where he had been declared dead and was itself beheaded.
The fighting in the town also saw the death the leader of the Abu Sleem Brigade Salem Derbi. Earlier this evening there was a social media report, which has not been confirmed, that IS commander Abu Rayan had also been killed. IS has not yet posted any report of the death.
Sheikh Sadek Ghariani, who has publicly supported the Abu Sleem “thuwar”, today issued a statement regretting Derbi’s death and calling for it to be avenged.
The Libyan army was also involved on two levels in Derna today. There was an airstrike, apparently aimed at the headquarters of the IS religious police, the Hisbah. The target was missed but pictures, which are claimed to be of the aftermath, show extensive damage to buildings in the street nearby.
Meanwhile, in a surprise move, since it has been fighting other Al-Qaeda-linked groups as well as IS in Benghazi, the army is understood to have permitted injured fighters from the Abu Sleem Brigade to be ferried to Tobruk for hospital treatment.
The fighting in Derna had lessened this evening according to one source in the town. Reports that Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked IS terrorists in Benghazi’s Hawari district were denied by a commander from the Benghazi Shoura Council, the umbrella organisation for jihadists in the city.
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