The Derna Protection Force (DPF;

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: قوة حماية درنة), also known as the Derna Security Force, was a Libyan militia formed by Ateyah Al-Shaari on 11 May 2018, during the

Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; ar, الجيش الوطني الليبي, ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii'') is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Ha ...

's assault on Derna.

History

The militia was founded on May 11, 2018 by Ateyah Al-Shaari, the leader of the

Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna The Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna ( ar, مجلس شورى مجاهدي درنة) was a coalition of Islamist militias that advocated the implementation of Sharia law within Derna, Libya. Besides seeking to implement strict social mores in ...

. Despite losing control of Derna on 28 June 2018, the Derna Protection Force survived the LNA assault. In July and September they clashed with the LNA. Despite these clashes, it had been commented in October 2018 that after "losing fighters, leadership and control of the city", the DPF had effectively "ceased to exist as an organization". On 12 February 2019, the 46 remaining DPF fighters surrendered to the LNA, ending the DPF's existence. The LNA blamed 2

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

s attacks in Derna on 2 June 2019 on the DPF, despite the group being defunct. On the following day, the attack was claimed by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...

References

Jihadist groups in Libya Rebel groups in Libya Second Libyan Civil War Derna, Libya {{Libya-stub