ISIS doubles in size in Libya to 6,000 fighters as intelligence services fear jihadi group will use new stronghold to carry out terror attacks in Europe and America
The number of ISIS militants in Libya has doubled in the last year
As many as 6,000 fighters are now based in the troubled country
Security services fear militants have aspirations to conduct attacks against the U.S. and other nations in the West
By TOM WYKE
DailyMail.com
8 April 2016
The number of ISIS militants in Libya has doubled in the last year or so to as many as 6,000 fighters, with aspirations to conduct attacks against the U.S. and other nations in the West.
Army Gen. David Rodriguez, head of U.S. Africa Command, said that local Libya militias are battling to destroy an ISIS network in Sabratha.
The latest numbers for ISIS in Libya make it the largest branch of eight that the jihadi group operates outside Iraq and Syria, according to U.S. defense officials.
The U.S. has conducted two airstrikes in Libya in recent months targeting Islamic State fighters and leaders.
Rodriguez said that airstrieks are limited to militants that pose an ‘imminent’ threat to U.S. interests. He said it’s possible the U.S. could do more as the government there takes shape.
The U.S. and its allies are hoping that a U.N.-brokered unity government will be able to bring the warring factions together and end the chaos there, which has helped fuel the growth of the Islamic State.
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