The IS group has threatened to destroy Saudi Arabian prisons holding militants after Riyadh's execution of 47 people including 43 convicted al Qaeda militants, Reuters reports.
IS singled out the al-Ha'ir and Tarfiya prisons where many Al-Qaeda and IS supporters have been detained.
"The Islamic State always seeks to free prisoners, but we calculate that the ending of the issues of prisoners will not happen except with the eradication of the rule of tyrants, and then destroying their prisons and razing them to the ground," it said in an article posted online on January 5, according to Reuters.
That concludes our live-blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State for Tuesday, January 5. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
The IS group has murdered at least 25 people in Syria for being gay, including two under 18, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has told The Independent.
Six people have been stoned to death, three killed by being shot in the head and 16 killed by being thrown from high buildings, SOHR said, adding that those who survived the fall were then stoned to death on the streets by bystanders.
A 15-year-old boy was reportedly thrown from a rooftop in Syria's Deir al-Zor city after being raped by a senior IS militant named Abu Zaid al-Jazrawi, who was spared killing but forced to leave Syria.
From our news desk:
IS Launches Attacks Near Northwest Iraqi City
Islamic State (IS) fighters have launched several offensives near the city of Haditha in northwest Iraq in the last 48 hours.
The U.S.-led coalition against the IS extremist group said on January 5 that the attacks had been “broken by a combination of coalition air power and Iraqi security forces."
U.S. Colonel Steve Warren said more than 100 IS militants were killed.
Security sources were quoted as saying at least 25 fighters were also killed on the Iraqi government side.
Iraqi officials said IS fighters were able to seize the village of Sakrana in the course of their offensive, which comes after the group lost control of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, a week ago.
Haditha is located in Anbar some 200 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. The dam north of the city is the country's second largest.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) has denied that the IS group has taken over oil reservoirs near Sidra, Al Wasat reports.
IS has published photos and a short video showing its militants near oil storage tanks south of Sidra on January 4.
Although Libya's oil ports of Sidra and Ras Lanuf -- which have come under attack from IS militants over the past two days -- are not operating, the growing presence of the IS group in Libya means the country is "unlikely to regain pre-crisis production any time soon," Reuters reports.
IS in Libya has released photos of its January 4 raid on the Sidra oil port, the Long War Journal reports.
Some of the photos show militants inside an oil installation.
Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) said that they repelled the January 4 attack but IS has attacked Sidra again today.
There are ongoing clashes between IS militants and Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) southwest of Sidra in Wadi Kahila, a PFG spokesman has said.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS has denied claims by IS that its militants overran Barwana and Sakran, two towns near Haditha in Anbar province.
U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren said that IS had launched offensives near Haditha and that coalition air strikes helped Iraqi forces push back an initial offensive by IS against Haditha by around 200 militants.
Warren said more than 100 IS militants were killed.
Two more members of Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) were killed today as clashes continued for a second day with IS militants near the oil port of Sidra, Ali Hassi, a spokesman for the PFG, told Reuters.
Hassi said that IS militants attacked checkpoints 30-40 km from Sidra.
A second oil storage tank was set on fire by a long range rocket fired by IS.