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Daesh Doubles Number of Terrorists in Libya!

Daesh Doubles Number of Terrorists in Libya!
folder_openLibya access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

The number of Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS"] terrorist militants in Libya has doubled to up to 6,000 in as little as a year, the head of US forces in Africa warned Thursday.

Daesh Doubles Number of Terrorists in Libya!

Despite the vast increase the group is not likely to settle and seize swathes of territory inside Libya, as it has done in Syria and Iraq, said General David Rodriguez, head of the US Africa Command.

According to the US intelligence community, about 4,000 to 6,000 terrorists are now in the country, a number that has doubled in the last 12 to 18 months, Rodriguez said.

Daesh has exploited the turmoil in Libya since the overthrow of Dictator Moammar Gadhafi five years ago, raising fears that it is establishing a new stronghold on Europe's doorstep.

But Rodriguez said it is significantly harder for the terrorists to grab large areas of Libya and then consolidate.

"It's possible but right now I am not concerned about it," he said, citing "significantly different conditions" in Libya.

Among them is the fact that the Daesh group does not "have the homegrown people that know as much about Libya like they did in Iraq and Syria," Rodriguez said.

And the Libyan people "don't like external influences."
Rodriguez said that Libyan militias "are contesting the growth of Daesh in several areas across Libya."

"In the east, in Benghazi and Derna, they have fought back against the Islamic State and made it much tougher for them to operate."

Libya has a new UN-backed unity government, which is being led by Fayez al-Sarraj, who arrived in the capital only a week ago.

Any possible international intervention against Daesh group in Libya, Rodriguez said, "is going to be driven by their leadership and what they want us to do."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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