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Islamic State aims to build regional hub in Libya

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Significance

Planned before the November 13 Paris attacks, the strike targeted Wissam al-Zubaydi (Abu Nabil al-Anbari), an Iraqi commander sent by ISG's Iraq- and Syria-based group to lead operations in Libya earlier in the year. Zubaydi, who was reportedly killed in the strike, was believed to have been involved in the execution of 21 Egyptian Christians in February, and maintained direct links between ISG's Libyan operations and the group's command in Iraq and Syria.

Impacts

  • Political stalemate and the breakdown of UN efforts to forge a unity government will provide ISG space to continue operating in Libya.
  • ISG could step up its attacks on Libyan oil facilities, denying Libya's two governments their most important source of revenue.
  • The United States will likely increase strikes against jihadists in Libya.

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