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US defense chief: IS trying to build 'footprint' in Libya
Broad plans: In this Dec
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Broad plans: In this Dec. 11, 2015 file photo, Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks to reporters at the Pentagon. Carter laid out broad plans Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, to defeat Islamic State militants and retake the group's key power centers in Iraq and Syria. And he announced that a special commando force has now arrived in Iraq. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
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span class="inline inline-center">Broad plans: In this Dec. 11, 2015 file photo, Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks to reporters at the Pentagon. Carter laid out broad plans Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, to defeat Islamic State militants and retake the group's key power centers in Iraq and Syria. And he announced that a special commando force has now arrived in Iraq. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Defense Secretary Ash Carter says Islamic State fighters are trying to "consolidate their own footprint" in Libya by setting up training sites, drawing in foreign recruits and using the levers of economic power to raise money through taxes.
He says this is a great concern to the United States, saying IS must not be permitted to follow the formula it used in Iraq and Syria to capture large amounts of territory.
In those cases the extremist group took advantage of civil war and sectarian divisions to assert themselves militarily with little opposition.
At a Pentagon news conference Thursday, Carter said he hopes Libyans are able to form a viable government that could take the lead in expelling Islamic State influences. He said the U.S. would support that effort. (ags)
