Washington ‘concerned’ about greater ISIS domination in Libya

US is “deeply concerned” about ISIS’s expansion in the Libyan city of Sirte and controlling Al-Ghardabiya Airbase, Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds reported yesterday.

US Secretary of State spokesman Jeff Rathke replied to a question by an Al-Quds reporter, saying that the “land under ISIS’s control is increasing.”

An intelligence source said that ISIS might control Misrata, near Sirte, in the coming days.

A suicide attack carried out by ISIS targeted a checkpoint controlled by the militias defending the city and killed four of them.

Libya’s proximity to the West, being a short distance across the Mediterranean Sea, is a cause for concern for Western powers.

Reports said ISIS controlled Al-Ghardabiya Airbase, which was almost destroyed by the NATO strikes against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the situation in Libya is a “very tough challenge.”

“We believe that there needs to be some sort of political solution moving forward,” she said during her daily brief. “It is a very, very tough challenge; and that the Libyans have to step up and take this on themselves.”

She added: “We are working with our international partners to see if we can push the different parties to the table here.”

“The level of violence in Libya has been, as we have seen, pretty high. The security situation is a quite serious one. So it’s a really tough challenge, but we’re working with the UN and the EU and others to see if we can push the process.”