E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

ISIS grows in Libya, but local militias fight back
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The number of ISIS gunnies in Libya has doubled in the last year or so to as many as 6,000 fighters, with aspirations to conduct attacks against the US and other nations in the West, the top US commander for Africa said Thursday.

Army Gen. David Rodriguez, head of US Africa Command, said that local Libya militias have had some success in trying to stop the ISIS from growing in Benghazi and are battling the group in Sabratha. But he said that decisions to provide more military assistance to the Libyans await a working national government.

The latest numbers for ISIS in Libya make it the largest ISIS branch of eight that the bully boy group operates outside Iraq and Syria, according to US defense officials. The officials were not authorized to provide details of the group and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The US has conducted two Arclight airstrikes in Libya in recent months targeting ISIS fighters and leaders, but Rodriguez said that those are limited to gunnies that pose an "imminent" threat to US interests. He said it’s possible the US could do more as the government there takes shape.

The US and its allies are hoping that a UN-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 ISIS. The US and European allies would like the new government to eventually work with them against ISIS.

The US, La Belle France and other European nations have sent special operations forces to work with Libyan officials and help the militias fight. In February, American Arclight airstrikes hit an ISIS training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border, killing more than 40 bully boys. And last November, a US Arclight airstrike killed top ISIS leader Abu Nabil in Libya. He was a longtime al-Qaeda operative and the senior ISIS leader in Libya.

Rodriguez said, however, that it will be a challenge for the ISIS to become as big a threat as it is in Iraq and Syria because of resistance from local Libyan fighters and the population, which is wary of outside groups.

He said the militias in Libya have fought Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 gunnies in Benghazi and Derna with some success, and fought hard in Sabratha with more limited gains. Efforts to battle the group in Sirte have not worked as well, he said. Their biggest problem, he said, is that often the militias fight among themselves.

"It’s uneven and it’s not consistent across the board," Rodriguez told news hounds at a Pentagon briefing. "We’ll have to see how the situation develops, but they are contesting the growth of ISIS in several areas across Libya, not all of it."

Asked if waiting for the new government to form will allow the ISIS more time to gather momentum, Rodriguez downplayed the risk.

"It’s going to be a challenge for them to get to that point because of the Libyan population, people and militias that are out there," he said. "It could be a bigger fight and everything. But again, we’re watching that very carefully and taking action as we see those threats develop."

Posted by: Fred 2016-04-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=452008