…Throughout North Africa
"Less than a year ago, the Islamic State's ambitions in Africa seemed all but shattered. In Libya, militias assisted by U.S. Special Operations soldiers and airstrikes drove the militants from their stronghold in the city of Sirte. Hundreds of Islamic State fighters died. Others fled south toward desert hideouts.
"There were no more black flags," recalled Claudia Gazzini, a senior Libya analyst for the International Crisis Group, describing the situation when she visited southern Libya after the militant group's defeat in December.
But many highly trained Islamic State fighters crossed into the vast ungoverned areas of impoverished Niger, according to regional security officials and analysts. Some then flowed to zones where militants were active in Mali, Nigeria and other countries.
The fighters have helped inject new energy into a spreading Islamist militancy, creating fresh challenges for U.S. forces in the region. Few Americans knew their troops were engaged in one of the world's most complex battlegrounds until four U.S. soldiers were killed by militants last month in a remote corner of Níger…"
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