UNITED NATIONS — The Daesh (the so-called IS) group has between 2,000 and 3,000 fighters in Libya and has demonstrated its intention to control more territory in the strategically located North African country — but it is only one player among multiple warring factions, United Nations experts said in a report Tuesday.
The experts monitoring UN sanctions against Al-Qaeda and spinoff groups said in the report to the UN Security Council that the group is benefiting from its "appeal" and notoriety in Iraq and Syria and poses "an evident short and long-term threat in Libya."
The group's central command views Libya "as the 'best' opportunity to expand its so-called caliphate" from Syria and Iraq, the experts said.
The 24-page report cautioned, however, that the group "faces strong resistance from the population, as well as difficulties in building and maintaining local alliances" — and stressed that its threat "needs to be realistically assessed."
Nonetheless, the experts said there is concern at the spread of the group in Libya, given the country's strategic location on the Mediterranean Sea and its use as a transit point in North Africa.
More territory would not only enable Daesh and Al-Qaeda-linked groups to further influence ongoing conflicts in North Africa and the Sahel but give the extremists a new hub outside the Middle East, they said.
Eight independent experts were appointed by the secretary general to write the report, with expertise in counter-terrorism, financing of terrorism, arms embargoes, travel bans and related legal issues.
Oil-rich Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 toppling and killing of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. It is divided between an elected parliament and government based in the eastern port city of Tobruk and an Islamist militia-backed government in the capital Tripoli — with militants from Daesh and Al-Qaeda also exploiting the chaos.
The report said the current political and security challenges in Libya have provided an opportunity for Daesh and Al-Qaeda-linked groups including Ansar Al-Sharia, which took part in the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb known as AQIM, "to opportunistically exploit and complicate an already difficult situation on the ground."
It said Ansar Al-Sharia in Benghazi and Ansar Al-Sharia in Derna "seem to have weakened" since Daesh established a foothold in Libya, due to the loss of fighters who either joined Daesh or were killed during clashes with its militants.
AQIM, the extremist group Al-Mourabitoun which carried out attacks in Mali last month, and Ansar Al-Sharia in Tunisia, "continue to use the country as a rear base for their operations in the region," the report said.
The panel said senior leaders of AQIM, which has taken advantage of the turmoil in Libya since 2011, see the growing appeal of Daesh as serious competition for their group.
According to the experts, the Daesh group in Libya is the only known affiliate to benefit from support and guidance from Daesh headquarters.
They cited two reasons — around 800 Libyans who previously fought for Daesh in Syria and Iraq are now fighting for Daesh in Libya, and the group's leaders continue to send emissaries from the Mideast to Libya with instructions. — AP
