19 die in IS, Libya fight

SIRTE, Libya – Fierce fighting broke out Saturday between Islamic State militants and a Libyan militia in what may mark the beginning of a battle to push the radical jihadis from this oil-rich North African nation.

As many as 19 people died in the confrontations, with the government in Tripoli, which is allied with the Misrata militia that battled the Islamic State force, reporting that two of its fighters had died. The Misrata militia said it had killed 17 Islamic State militants and had taken many more prisoner. The prisoners were being taken to Misrata, 150 miles west of Sirte, the militia said.

The fighting came one month after Islamic State posted a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach. This week, the Islamic State flag could be seen firmly affixed to the landmark Ougagougou conference center in Sirte, the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown.

But the confrontation between the Islamic State loyalists and the Misrata militia’s Brigade 166 came as a surprise.

This week, a Misratan commander said his group hoped to avoid a fight with the Islamic State because it was overstretched by fighting in Libya’s other conflict, which pits forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a former Gadhafi general who lived in the United States for decades, against the Misratans and allied armed groups known as Libya Dawn.

“We don’t want to open up a new front,” Brigade 166 leader Mohamed Omar el Hassan said. Brigade 166’s assignment was to cordon off the city and prevent Islamic State militants from moving outside it, he said.

While details of what happened are not known, that plan apparently fell apart after Islamic State set up a checkpoint in eastern Sirte.