ISIS expanding presence in western Libya with support from Brotherhood
The Islamic State group is active in western Libya in an alarming manner.
Security agencies have stepped up their warnings
against possible terrorist attacks by the organization.
ISIS, they say, can target gatherings,
public facilities, security headquarters and vital targets.
On January 21, the Libyan Ministry of the
Interior issued instructions for tightening security, vigilance, and the monitoring
of suspects and arrivals.
It called for raising the alert level in
western Libya.
Head of the office of the interior
minister, Noureddine Abu Jarida, revealed that the ministry had received
information about imminent ISIS attacks.
For his part, member of the Libyan House of
Representatives (parliament) and member of the National Security Committee, Ali
al-Takbali, said ISIS elements are present in the al-Khatatbeh area in Sabratha
in Zawiya District.
"They fill the streets during the
night and drive cars mounting the black flags of ISIS," he said.
He wrote on Facebook that ISIS elements
carry Kalashnikovs, pistols, and long-range machine guns.
"There are agents who offer them
protection and provide them with their needs and information in all the western
coastal cities," al-Takbali said.
He warned that the ISIS elements practice
kidnapping, robbery and smuggling in the areas where they are active.
Brotherhood support
The Libyan National Army (LNA) had
confirmed in a statement in August of last year that the areas controlled by
ISIS in western Libya are controlled by the Brotherhood as well.
It said the Brotherhood had facilitated the
entry of ISIS elements into these areas and allowed them to move with full
freedoms.
"The LNA had received information that
the Brotherhood had established training camps for ISIS elements in those
areas, in preparation for entering Tunisia across the border at any time,"
the army said in its statement.
It referred to the elements of the Ansar
al-Sharia organization, who train ISIS in camps in the Dahman area.
