English-speaking Female Jihadis in Libya Issue Islamic State Call to Arms

An image supplied by Islamist media outlet Welayat Tarablos
allegedly shows Isis members parading the street in Libya's
coastal city of Sirte.

THE GUARDIAN: Three women, believed to be British, are using social media to reach out to western Muslims to open up new front in north Africa

English-speaking female jihadis have been using social media to try to lure western Muslims to join them with Islamic State in Libya, a new front in the war on terror just 400 miles from Europe’s shores.

Three native English-speaking women have been monitored for months by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a UK-based thinktank, and are believed to be British. They say they have been living in the war[-]torn north African country since at least the start of the summer.

Using a variety of social media platforms, including Twitter and encrypted messaging apps such as Surespot and Telegram, the three have reached out to their hundreds of followers, and as routes into Syria via its 500-mile border with Turkey have become further restricted they have advertised the journey to Libya as the easiest way of joining Isis’s so-called caliphate.

Isis has been in Libya for just over a year and the country is home to its largest forces outside of the Middle East. The group has its headquarters in the northern coastal town of Sirte, birthplace of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but also has a training base to the west of the capital, Tripoli.

Melanie Smith, ISD researcher and an expert in western female jihadis, said evidence of women travelling to Libya to start a new life under Isis represented a dangerous tipping point. » | Shiv Malik, and Chris Stephen in Tunis | Sunday, September 27, 2015

Islamic State: ISIS Orders Parents to MARRY OFF Their Daughters to Its Depraved Fighters

EXPRESS: TERRIFIED parents in Libya have been ordered to MARRY OFF their daughters to depraved Islamic State (ISIS) fighters, it emerged today.

Sex-crazed Islamists in the coastal city of Sirte are looking to force mothers and fathers to hand over their young girls in the name of jihad.

Those who refuse could find themselves hauled before a Sharia court, with public floggings and even the death penalty amongst the punishments routinely handed down by Isis militants.

The move comes after Express.co.uk revealed how Nigerian terror group Boko Haram has sent hundreds of fighters to Sirte to help the jihadis hold the city.

The hated terror group has declared [the] Sirte its new capital in north Africa as part of its bid to create a so-called caliphate.

In a sermon to Sirte's terrified people - who recently rebelled against their new Isis rulers - militant Hassan al-Karami ordered locals to marry off their female relatives to Isis fighters. » | Nick Gutteridge | Saturday, September 5, 2015

‘It’s a Real Massacre, But the World Is Silent’: Up to 200 People Killed by ISIS in Sirte, Libya

ISIS takes full control of the city of Sirte, Libya. The situation is desperate, local residents report

How Gaddafi's Home City in Libya Fell under the Rule of Islamic State Jihadists

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Telegraph's Ruth Sherlock and Sam Tarling report from inside Sirte in Libya, the first major foothold for the Islamic State group on the Mediterranean coast


The facade of the building that was once Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s pride and joy is now painted with the distinctive black and white jihadist flag.

In streets nearby, mannequins in women’s clothes shops are covered in demure, shapeless black. Ladies’ hairdressers have been closed down.

The Libyan dictator’s home city and pet project, later the scene of his capture and death, Sirte is now the first major foothold for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) on the Mediterranean coast.

A visit by The Telegraph revealed how a small group of foreign fighters has developed into a force to be reckoned with, 300 miles from Italy’s shores.

“When they arrived they were just a small number,” said Milad, a resident, who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisals. “But then many locals joined them. They see them as the only way to have power in post-Gaddafi Libya.” » | Ruth Sherlock, Sirte, video by Sam Tarling | Tuesday, March 10, 2015