CBS News is quoting Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the armed forces led by Ibrahim al-Jadhran that control most of Libya's oil fields, as saying that six of their fighters were killed in today's clashes with IS militants in Sidra.
IS militants reportedly attacked Sidra from three directions, assisted by Jadhran's brother who is believed to have joined IS.
Jadhran, who took part in the rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, has declared himself the guardian of Libya's oil crescent.
Syria's opposition are demanding confidence-building steps from Damascus including a prisoner release before negotiations due this month, officials have told Reuters. Three opposition leaders said that they and rebels plan to deliver that message to Staffan de Mistura, the U.N.'s envoy for Syria, on January 5.
The demand "could complicate efforts to start the talks," Reuters reports.
More reports that IS has now retreated back towards Sirte after being pushed back from Sidra by the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG).
The presidential council of Libya's unity government has met to discuss the situation in Libya's oil crescent region after today's attacks by the IS group, Al Wasat is reporting.
All oil terminals are under the control of Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard, tweets Digital Libya's Sami M. Berriwen.
But the militants are reportedly mobilizing their forces 30 kilometers away from Sirte for a second attack on the oil terminals, Berriwen says.
A small boy who appeared on a new IS killing video alongside a British-accented IS militant has been confirmed as Isa Dare, the son of Grace Dare, a British woman who went to Syria in 2012.
The child's grandfather Henry Dare confirmed to The Telegraph that the young boy in the video is his grandson.
The child is shown in IS's latest execution-style killing video saying that militants will kill "unbelievers."
The IS group is not the only extremist group to carry out brutal execution-style killings.
Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen have stoned a woman to death in the southwestern Yemeni city of Mukalla after accusing her of adultery, witnesses say.
One witness said the militants "placed the woman in a hole in the middle of the courtyard of a military building and stoned her to death in the presence of dozens of residents."
The Lebanese group Hizbollah has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack on an Israeli army vehicle in the Lebanese border area.
Hizbollah said that the attack was carried out by Samir Qantar's group, referring to the Hizballah leader killed in Damascus last month in what Hizballah says was an Israeli air to surface missile.
Lebanese media is reporting that Israeli shells have hit the southern Lebanese town of Al Wazzani, with initial reports of injuries and damage.
The shelling comes after reports that the Lebanese group Hizbollah targeted an Israeli army patrol in the Har Dov area along the border with an explosive device. Israeli authorities have told residents in the area to remain home, Israel's Haaretz daily is reporting.
The reports follow the killing in the Syrian capital Damascus last month of Hizballah leader Samir Qantar. Hizballah and Syrian state media said Qantar had been killed in an Israeli air strike; Israel stopped short of confirming responsibility for the strike. Hizballah has sent hundreds of militants into Syria to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
A Petrol Facilities Guard source has told Reuters that two IS suicide bombers targeted the Sidra oil export terminal earlier, killing two guards.
But the IS militants have now retreated to neighboring areas, the source says.