U.S. Estimate of ISIS Militants in Libya Doubles to 6,500: Report
Source: Newsweek
The number of fighters from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Libya has doubled as tougher border controls and a coordinated air strike campaign take their toll on the group’s numbers in Syria, according to U.S. intelligence estimates.
The radical Islamist group is now believed to have up to 6,500 militants in the North African state, double previous estimates, according to U.S. intelligence assessments, revealed to CNN by several officials. The country has teetered on the brink of becoming a failed state on the Mediterranean ever since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
"ISIS is investing heavily in Libya," one U.S. official said, but others expressed caution at the figure, saying that it could be half of that. The same official said that the estimate was found with “best guesses with low confidence.”
On Thursday, the White House released details of a U.S. intelligence report that revealed estimates of ISIS’s numbers in their self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. It showed that the group has as many as 25,000 fighters in territory under their control in both countries, but this represents a fall of 6,000—a 19.3 percent decrease—on the previous estimates.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/us-estimate-isis-militants-libya-doubles-6500-report-423445
Another Clinton "success story"...
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