Islamic State In Libya: ISIS Establishing Training Camps In East Of Restive Country, Says US General

A U.S. general has said that the Islamic State group has set up training camps in eastern Libya, where “a couple of hundred” fighters are undergoing military training, according to reports.

U.S. Army General David Rodriguez, who is head of U.S. Africa Command, told reporters Wednesday that ISIS has “put training camps out there," and described the group's activity in eastern Libya as “very small and nascent,” according to a report from the Telegraph.

Rodriguez said that he had not recommended that U.S. troops or planes target the two camps at this stage, saying: "We'll have to just continue to monitor and watch that carefully in the future to see what happens or whether it grows unabated," according to Reuters.

Since the fall of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya has been rocked by civil strife, and militant groups, some with links to ISIS, have been competing for territory in the country.

Libya's internationally recognized government has lost control of three key cities in the country amid the fighting, including the nation's second-largest city, Benghazi, according to the BBC.

Islamist group Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) seized the capital of Tripoli after a month-long battle with a rival group, according to Deutsche Welle, forcing the government to relocate to the coastal city of Tobruk.

Fighters linked to the Islamic State group also established a presence in the Libyan city of Derna last month, and three activists who had been sharing information about the group's activities in the city on social media were reportedly found beheaded in November.