Patrick Skinner Quoted on AFP: US Weighs Options as IS Presence Soars in Libya

February 5, 2016

US Weighs Options as IS Presence Soars in Libya

Agence France-Presse

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Islamic State fighters have streamed into Libya in recent months, a US official said Thursday, heightening fears the extremists are gaining ground and influence in the north African country.

About 5,000 IS jihadists are now in Libya, the defense official said, approximately double earlier estimates, while the number of IS extremists in Iraq and Syria has dropped…

Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer now with The Soufan Group consultancy, said the United States has few good Libya options, but there is growing consensus something must be done.

“They are just terrified of it getting much worse, fast,” Skinner told AFP.

“Once the Islamic State takes something, it’s really hard and really bloody and really expensive to take it back…”

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To read the full article please click on the link below:
http://www.afp.com/en/news/us-weighs-options-presence-soars-libya

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