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Jihadists Take Over Former U.S.-Libyan Military Base

Libyan militias parade through Tripoli / AP

Terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda have taken control of a former U.S. Special Forces training near Tripoli, Libya.

The Daily Beast's Eli Lake reported that the camp was a refurbished Libyan military base used by U.S. Special Forces to train the Libyan military in counter-terrorism.

Ibrahim Ali Abu Bakr Tantoush, a former associate of Osama Bin Laden, has taken command of the site and is reportedly leading a group of Salafist fighters.

According to the Daily Beast:

The fact that the one-time training base for Libyan counter-terrorism teams is now the domain of terrorists is a poignant reminder the United States has yet to win its war with al Qaeda, despite the successful 2011 raid that killed its founder and leader. [...]

Daveed Gartenstein Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, added that "We’ve known for some time that Jihadist groups have established training camps throughout Libya. But this is significant because of the camp’s proximity to Tripoli and because rather than creating camps in remote locations they took over a base used by the Libyan government."

"I suspect they will not keep this camp for very long. It’s close to Tripoli and its location is known by the Libyan government," he said.

Published under: Al Qaeda , Libya