Alwaght- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that ISIS Takfiri terrorists may spread in other parts of Africa as Libyan forces launch final push to dislodge them from their de facto African capital in Sirte.
Ban outlined the threat from foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) in Libya in a confidential report to the Security Council, obtained by AFP.
"The recent pressure against ISIS in Libya could lead its members, to relocate and regroup in smaller and geographically dispersed cells throughout Libya and in neighboring countries," Ban said in the report.
The defeat of ISIS fighters in Sirte "appears to be a distinct possibility", leading many to flee south as well as west, to Tunisia.
"The future impact of scattered ISIL combatants on southern local armed groups may become an issue of concern," he said.
Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government in Tripoli have been battling to take Sirte from ISIS terrorists for the past two months.
The coastal city is considered one of ISIS's most important rear bases outside of Syria and Iraq.
There are between 2,000 and 5,000 ISIS fighters from Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Morocco and Mauritania deployed in Sirte, Tripoli and Derna, according to the report.
Dozens of foreign fighters from Tunisia have returned home from Libya "with the intent to conduct attacks," it added.
The ties extend further afield, with funds from Libya sent to Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an extremist group that operates in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, the report said.
Ban said Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is active in Mali and across the Sahel region, continues to use Libya as a sanctuary and a base to buy arms and ammunition.
ISIS has taken advantage of the chaos embroiling Libya since the NATO-backed overthrow and death of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi back in 2011.
