"We will soon decide whether to Deploy American Troops in Libya"

According to Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the US wants to make her contribution to what is happening in Libya and remained stable in the forces

"We will soon decide whether to Deploy American Troops in Libya"

Photo: AP

"The Egyptians are taking the fight to the Islamic State right now,” said General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in an interview to "The Voice of America". The U.S. estimates the number of IS fighters there to be in the high hundreds – up to about 1,000.

“We have seen a connection between the Islamic State in the Sinai and Raqqah,” Dunford told reporters. “We have seen communication between the Islamic State in the Sinai and the Islamic State in Libya and elsewhere, so we are watching that pretty closely.”

The U.S. military’s top general said Thursday that the Libyan government is in a “period of intense dialogue” that could soon lead to an agreement in which U.S. military advisers will be deployed there to assist in the fight against the Islamic State. “There’s a lot of activity going on underneath the surface,” said Dunford. “We’re just not ready to deploy capabilities yet because there hasn’t been an agreement. And frankly, any day that could happen.”

There is interest among some NATO nations in participating in the mission, Dunford said. The operation will likely focus on training and equipping militias that pledge loyalty to Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, the leader of the new Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), which is backed by the United Nations.

“There will be a long-term mission in Libya,” Dunford predicted, adding that NATO will want a request from the new government in order to get involved.

A small number of U.S. Special Operations troops have been deployed to the Libyan cities of Misrata and Benghazi to assess who could be partners for U.S. forces since late last year, U.S. officials acknowledge. Dunford declined to comment on their operations Thursday, but said the United States is looking for ways to make “a unique contribution” to the effort.