Egyptian Columnists: Egypt Needs To Fight ISIS In Libya – Unilaterally If Necessary

In the past few days, two columnists for the Egyptian daily Al-Watan have called for Egypt to launch a preemptive offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya, warning that ISIS's hold in Libya was likely to grow due to the military pressures on the organization in Syria and Iraq. They wrote that in light of the slow pace of the Libyan national unity talks, and European inaction, Egypt ought to take the initiative, and not wait until ISIS starts attacking on Egyptian soil.

In his December 9, 2015 column, Muhammad Mukarram Ahmad wrote: "Despite the increasing pressures in Iraq and Syria, ISIS, in an advance move, has already turned Libya into a support base from which to launch its terrorist crimes against Egypt in particular, and against the security of the North African countries – Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.

"[Libya has also become] a center for the planning of joint operations with Boko Haram in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Mali, and a strategic launching point that allows it to threaten the security of the Mediterranean and of southern Europe... [It is also] a bridge above the Mediterranean that allows its fighters to move between the previous battlefield in Iraq and Syria and its backyard Libya... In addition, ISIS now believes that Libya is the best alternative seat for the caliphate of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi if the military pressures on Raqqa in Syria were to intensify and it became necessary to transfer the Caliph to a new and more secure capital.