"In Libya, the U.S. intelligence community has said it's around 4 (thousand) to 6,000. It is probably about doubled in the last 12 to 18 months based on what their assessments were last year," said Army Gen. David Rodriguez here at a Pentagon briefing.
Though the IS' stronghold in Libya was in Sirte, a city on Libya's Mediterranean coast, the extremist group also had a presence in the east in Benghazi and Darna, as well as in Sabratha in the west, said Rodriguez.
Apart from recruits from within north Africa and from Iraq and Syria, some militants already inside Libya had also pledged allegiance to IS, he added.
Despite the expansion of IS' influence in Libya, the U.S. military had so far publicly admitted to have conducted only two airstrikes against IS targets inside Libya, compared to its daily air raids against the group in Syria and Iraq, according to examinations of the Pentagon's previous statements...............-china.org.cn-
8/4/16
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UN SC Threatens to Sanction Those Disrupting libya's Political Transition
France says be ready for libya intervention. libyan unity government starts work from naval base.
Libye: le chef du gouvernement d'union nationale parrainé par l'ONU est arrivé à Tripoli
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UN envoy urges Libya's new government to get to work...
ReplyDeleteLibya's new Tripoli-based government must get down to "practical work" to ensure a peaceful handover of power from the country's many factions, the UN envoy told the Security Council on Thursday.
Martin Kobler told a closed-door session of the council that he was "cautiously optimistic" about prospects for the new unity government that will seek to restore order to Libya, diplomats said.
The UN-backed government is led by Fayez al-Sarraj who arrived in the capital a week ago.
Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognized parliament to flee to the country's east.
Kobler said Sarraj must begin "practical work" with his ministerial team even though security is fragile, a diplomat said.....AFP
8/4/16