While the Libyan state remains too weak to confront and disarm the plethora of militias still present within it, IS has been able to gain a foothold in the eastern city of Derna.

Following Friday’s declaration of allegiance to Daesh (the “Islamic State”) by Derna’s Shoura Council of Islamic Youth (SCIY) and its military parade through the streets, the town’s rival Islamist militia, the Abu Sleem Martyrs’ Brigade has said that it is not giving it allegiance to anyone outside the country.

A video shared on Monday shows line of vehicles parading through Derna in eastern Libya with men holding Islamic State flags and chanting slogans in support of the group

The High National Elections Commission has announced candidates who are standing for election to House of Representatives for Derna.

At least six members of rival Derna Islamist brigades were killed in fighting on Sunday as tensions flared between the town’s Abu Saleem Martyrs’ Brigade and the Islamic Youth in Derna.

The Shura Council of Islamic Youth in Derna has killed an Egyptian man it accused of murder in what is reportedly the second public execution carried out by the group in the town.

Derna residents live a life of fear. Al-Qaeda has transformed their eastern Libya port city into a new base for its global campaign and as the prime export centre for jihadists.

Five polling stations blown up in Derna late last night causing severe damages to buildings and reportedly intimidating voters from going out to vote in today elections for the Constitutional Committee.

Despite security challenges, elections are to go ahead in the Cyrenaica towns of Kufra and Derna where inhabitants have been plagued by some of the worst violence in the country since the revolution.

A spate of targeted assassinations and clashes rocked Benghazi and Derna over the weekend.