Zimpapers Logo

Omar al-Hassi, the head of Libya’s self-declared Islamist-backed government, greets soldiers west of Tripoli during a visit to forces loyal to his unrecognized administration. — AFP

New York – A United Nations special envoy is warning of Islamic State group camps in Libya and says many nearby states risk being destabilised if the country’s chaos is not quickly brought under control.

Hiroute Guebre Sellassie briefed the UN Security Council on Thursday on the threats to the Sahel region in western Africa, a week after a senior US general announced that the Islamic State group had set up training camps in eastern Libya.

Army General David Rodriguez, who heads US Africa Command, has said perhaps a couple of hundred fighters are in the camps, but details are sketchy.

Sellassie, the UN envoy to the Sahel region, had no details on the camps, but urged the international community to do more to stabilise Libya, which has split into two governments. – AP