Libya’s Intelligence Agency has announced the dismantling of three coordinated ISIS-affiliated terrorist cells operating in the country’s southern region.
The cells were said to have international ties across Africa and Europe, and were involved in recruitment, illicit finance, and logistics for extremist operations.
In press statements, a senior intelligence official said that the operation is part of Libya’s broader counterterrorism strategy aimed at dismantling sleeper cells and cutting off extremist funding sources.
According to investigative reports from local media, the first cell was tasked with recruiting fighters and coordinating the transfer of ISIS operatives from North Africa to conflict zones in Somalia and the Sahel. It used forged passports and hidden safehouses to conceal its activity.
The second cell specialized in money laundering, using front companies disguised as humanitarian organizations to funnel resources. These funds were used to support ISIS fugitives fleeing Syria’s notorious Al-Hol detention camp, some of whom were reportedly relocated to safe havens in Libya.
The third and most dangerous cell, according to officials, managed financial transactions using cryptocurrency and obscure investment channels. This group acted as a funding hub, transferring digital assets across borders to sustain ISIS operations.
The operation follows the recent discovery of a massive weapons cache buried beneath a residential property in Sabha, a key southern city. The stockpile included mortars, anti-aircraft guns, explosives, and improvised devices believed to be linked to terrorist groups.
These developments have once again highlighted the deteriorating security situation in Libya’s southern region, where weak state presence, vast desert terrain, and porous borders have enabled extremist groups to regroup and operate.
Security experts warn that unless Libya strengthens its southern security infrastructure, it risks becoming a corridor for transnational terrorism and trafficking.
