Islamic State’s Deadly Return in Libya Imperils Oil Output by Jared Malsin and Benoit Faucon – Wall Street Journal
Islamic State is staging a resurgence in chaotic Libya, claiming more than a dozen attacks in the North African country this year and threatening to disrupt the flow of oil from one of the world’s most significant suppliers.
The group’s re-emergence comes two years after Libyan forces backed by U.S. air power dislodged the extremist group from its stronghold in the coastal city of Sirte, and it erodes one of the signature victories in the yearslong U.S.-led military campaign against the militants.
The latest attack came last week when gunmen wearing explosive vests and carrying assault rifles stormed Libya’s state oil company, one of the country’s most important and heavily guarded institutions. Explosions shook the building and two employees died in the assault.
One official said he shut himself in his office and began praying. “I saw my own coffin,” the official said.
U.S. forces have kept up a steady barrage of strikes targeting Islamic State fighters in the country, including a drone strike in late August that killed a group member in Bani Walid, southeast of the capital, Tripoli, according to the U.S. Africa Command…