UK troops to fight ISIL infiltration into Tunisia: MoD
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British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon leaves Downing Street in London on February 20 , 2016 after a meeting of the cabinet. (AFP)
Britain says it will send troops to Tunisia to help fight any ISIL infiltration from neighboring Libya.
According to Press TV, the British defense minister has said, "A training team of some 20 troops from the 4th Infantry Brigade is now moving to Tunisia to help to counter illegal cross-border movement from Libya in support of the Tunisian authorities."
Michael Fallon told parliament on Monday, "I ... am extremely concerned about the proliferation of ISIL along the Libyan coastline, which is why we have been urgently assisting the formation of a new Libyan government."
The move comes after growing concern that ISIL wants Libya as a base to carry out attacks.
Last June, 30 British holidaymakers were killed in an attack by an ISIL-affiliated gunman on a beach at a hotel on Tunisia's Mediterranean coast.
After the downfall of Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, terrorist groups have taken advantage of political chaos to expand their presence in the North African country, and insurgents loyal to ISIL have taken control of the coastal city of Sirte.
Now Marcus Papadopoulos, editor and publisher of Politics First Magazine, says the UK and France were responsible in Libya’s militancy and helped groups like ISIL to rise there in the first place.
ME