Libya has seen an influx of Islamic State group (IS) fighters in recent months while their number has dropped in Syria and Iraq, a US defence official said on Thursday.

Public beheadings and roving jihadist gangs are terrifying residents in the Islamic State group’s Libyan stronghold of Sirte, in an ominous sign of the movement’s growing international influence.

For every Libyan citizen, there are two or more guns circulating within the oil-rich North African country’s border, based on a consensus of estimates. 

Western military intervention in Libya to stop its seizure by Daesh militants would be perceived as “intrusive and neocolonial”, according to Dr Arturo Varvelli, Head of Terrorism and Research Fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), as he told Sputnik it could instead strengthen Daesh’s control.

After Iraq and Syria, will international military intervention against the Islamic State group now take place in conflict-ridden Libya as well?

The United States and Italy warned Tuesday that the ISIL group is expanding its reach, threatening to seize Libya and launch attacks in Western countries.

In the wake of the visit by the Prime Minister of the Presidential Council (PC) of the UN-imposed government, Fayez Al-Sirraj, to Khalifa Haftar in Al-Marj city Saturday, many heated reactions surfaced in a row on the media.

Algerian security source said, Sunday, his country and Egypt established hotline between the two ministries of defense to exchange security information about field developments inside Libya, especially moves of armed groups.

US President Barack Obama has instructed key advisors to explore military action against Islamic State group in Libya, as top French defense officials warned the militants could hide amongst refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.

Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti ruled out her country taking unilateral action in Libya, saying efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis must be coordinated internationally, in an interview with local media published Thursday.