Libyan extremist militias affiliated with ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood are involved in drug-trafficking and counterfeit money trafficking networks

Libyan extremist militias affiliated with ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood are involved in drug-trafficking and counterfeit money trafficking networks

Intelligence and security sources revealed that Libyan militias, some affiliated with radical organizations such as ISIS, Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, are engaged in drugs and counterfeit currency trafficking. This is being carried out in cooperation with international criminal networks.
These activities are part of the efforts by these militias to obtain arms and financial resources to fund the salaries of its militants, especially amid the economic crisis in the country, which has affected their funding sources. These trafficking activities have raised US and European concerns.

The financial crunch faced by the militias is partly linked to the new US administration, which placed the war on terrorism at the top of its agenda in the region. This prompted the Libyan government to back down from assigning the militias to provide protection to state institutions in exchange for payment of salaries to their militants.

A security official in Tripoli disclosed that hundreds of applications from militias to pay salaries of their members have been “stalled for over two months due toa lack of funds, and due to the understanding by the authorities that reliance on {protection} by militias is no longer acceptable, locally or internationally.”

Source: /Libya-al-Mostakbal