ISIS shifts hundreds of fighters to Libya after strikes in Syria
Date
1/12/2016 10:40:58 PM
(MENAFN- Asia Times) Officials survey the grounds of the the Moroccan Embassy in Tripoli Libya after a bomb left in a garbage bin exploded on April 13 2015
U.S. intelligence agencies have identified at least 500 ISIS fighters over the past two months moving into the war-torn North African state that became an al Qaeda safe haven following the ouster of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi in 2011 according to American defense officials.
Since then Libya has become a chaotic largely ungoverned territory as large numbers of jihadists and militias operate in the country amid competing government factions.
Additionally ISIS leaders have notified recruiters to urge foreign fighters wishing to join the group to consider traveling to Libya as border controls in Turkey have tightened making it more difficult to reach the group's stronghold in Syria said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
ISIS emerged in Libya in 2015 first in the eastern city of Darnah where it was ousted in July. Currently its main stronghold is the costal city of Sirte where its official radio Al Bayan began broadcasting in June. Read more
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