Daesh returns to Libya, army continues raids

Aya Ezz

The Libyan army announced that dozens of Daesh terrorists have returned to some place in the west and south of the country, stressing that army forces continue to launch attacks on the hideouts of the terrorist organization.

AFRICOM spokesman Air Force Col. Chris Karns told the Military Times in August that the unrest in Libya could provide “oxygen” to existing terrorist elements because the discord could provide terrorist groups opportunities to recruit and conduct basic training.

An airstrike on an Islamic State element in Libya on Tuesday killed 11 jihadis, according to officials from U.S. Africa Command.

The airstrike, near Murzuq, “was conducted to eliminate Daesh terrorists and deny them the ability to conduct attacks on the Libyan people,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, AFRICOM’s director of operations, in a media release. “This effort demonstrates the resolve of the U.S. and our Libyan partners to deny safe havens to terrorists”

Officials say no civilians were injured or killed as a result of the attack, which is the second one against Daesh in five days after a long pause on such operations. Both were conducted in coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord.

Reports by Foreign Policy have reported that Daesh terrorists did not leave the Libya territories and have remarkable and intensive activities in the capital Tripoli, considering the existence of sleeper cells of the terrorist organization, not to mention that it managed to recruited many people online.

For his part, Libyan political analyst Magdy Ismaiel told The Reference in an interview that Daesh has took advantage of the security gaps in Libya and spread in many parts of the country.

He further pointed out that Daesh in Libya will be difficult to eliminate because it has been enrooted within the country since 2011 and has many sleeper cells, not to mention that it cooperates with a number of extremist groups in Chad with the aid of Qatar and Turkey.