Islamic State Militants Find a Foothold in Chaotic Libya

Civil war, religious divides and power vacuums in Iraq, Syria and now Libya have made it easy for Islamic State terrorists to take patchy control, attracting new recruits while targeting oil facilities, banks and other businesses and government offices. Well publicized violence swiftly subdues the divided citizens: The Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of a group of Coptic Christian workers in Libya from Egypt. “The close connection between the Libya branch and the central leadership around Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi underscores the strategic importance of the North African country to the group,” reports Maggie Michael for the Associated Press. She adds that Libya also has lots of weapons supplied by foreign sources as well porous borders to other nations that could jump-start new bases of operation. She reports that IS has divided Tripoli, putting a Yemeni and Tunisian in control, imposing dress codes and segregation for schools. – YaleGlobal