Sudan Will Not Become ISIS Territory Despite Islamic State Group Threat In Libya, Spy Chief Says

The chief of Sudan’s powerful spy agency said Tuesday jihadists will not be allowed to use the northeast African nation to cross into war-torn Libya, where the Islamic State group has established a new stronghold, according to Agence France-Presse. Speaking at the graduation of new members of the Rapid Support Forces in the capital of Khartoum, National Intelligence and Security Service Director Mohamed Atta al-Mawla Abbas said the new batch of counterinsurgency troops will be deployed to Sudan’s western borders with Libya to prevent any infiltration.

"Sudan will not be a crossing for Daesh and extremists," he reportedly said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group, aka ISIS. "We will not tolerate any organized or cross-border crime Sudanese territory is used in.”

Thousands of Sudanese migrant workers have traveled to neighboring Libya seeking better opportunities. But there have also been reports that dozens of young Sudanese have traveled there to fight alongside radical Islamic militias. Last year, students from a private university in Khartoum allegedly entered Syria via Turkey to join ISIS. The National Intelligence and Security Service has said intensive efforts are being made to curb the spread of radical ideologies.

Abbas emphasized that Sudan seeks peace in Libya, according to the Sudan Tribune.

"For the Libyan state, we want security and stability and peace, and we do not want insurgents going to Libya and coming back and sabotaging peace in Darfur," he reportedly told the graduating troops Tuesday.

The National Intelligence and Security Service has sent its Rapid Support Forces to quell rebel movements in war-hit Darfur, as well as the southern Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. The counterinsurgency troops have been accused of rights abuses, which the Sudanese government has denied.