Thread by @jseldin

#Libya ripe for #ISIS exploitation

Member states estimate branch has just 100s of fighters, but "1 Member State put it as high as 1,400" per @UN report

"Persistent lawlessness & preoccupation /interfactional fighting will create opportunities for ISIL-Libya to thrive further"

#Libya remains "integral" to #ISIS plans in #Africa per @UN report

"It remains an important outreach post between the core and #ISIL affiliates on the continent"

"Between February & April 2020, #ISIL-#Libya resumed activity in the south, coinciding with surging ISIL activity in the core conflict zone [#Iraq/#Syria]" per @UN

"It maintains sleeper cells in the coastal cities, including #Tripoli"

#alQaida in the Islamic Maghreb maintains a presence in #Libya, near #Uwayna in the SW

#AQIM "controls smuggling & trafficking routes of arms & people...collects fees and in-kind services from criminal organizations in return fro protection"

NEW: Growing concerns #Libya providing terror groups w/illicit markets for excess weapons

"#ISIL-#Libya and other designated terrorist groups on the continent are in a position to exploit this market" per @UN report

Per new @UN report, member states increasingly worried about #foreignfighters in #Libya - "an estimated 7,000 to 15,000 fighters brought in from the north-west #SyriaIn Arab Republic to #Tripoli, via #Turkey, to take part in the Libyan conflict"

"It remains unclear whether those #Syria|n fighters originally belonged to designated terrorist groups" per @UN report "However, Member States reported that the #HTS-dominated “Salvation Government” assembled and vetted the individuals in exchange for material support"