UN: Daesh fighters face possible defeat in Libya

Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government fire weapons at Daesh fighters in Sirte, Libya, on July 15, 2016. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)

Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government look at Daesh fighters’ positions before a battle in Sirte, Libya, on July 15, 2016. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)

UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Daesh fighters in Libya are facing the “distinct possibility” of defeat in their last stronghold and are likely to scatter elsewhere in the North African country and the region.
The UN chief said in a new report to the UN Security Council that member states estimate there are between 2,000 and 7,000 Daesh fighters from Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Morocco and Mauritania.
Ban says one member state recently reported between 3,000 and 4,000 Daesh fighters in Sirte, the extremist group’s last bastion along Libya’s northern coast.
But he said as a result of the recent offensive against Daesh, by forces aligned with the UN-brokered government, “the current number of those in Sirte is now likely well under 1,000.”