Echoing comments previously made by Nigel Farage and the head of the EU’s judicial cooperation agency Eurojust, the French Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drain, today warned that in the absence of a political solution an Islamic State (IS) controlled Libya – “a thieves’ den and a terrorists’ den” – would be the perfect embarcation point for terrorists to infiltrate migrant ferry boats to Europe.

Visiting Washington, D.C., for meetings with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, Le Drian made the comments at a meeting hosted by The German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Le Drian explained to the audience that Libya is no longer a functioning state and that he was warning some time ago of the arrival of IS before it had actually taken root there. He said it has been an arms and drugs bazar for a while, but now it is also a terrorist base. Although IS is there, France and its allies, backed by America’s financial and logistic support, have been able to stop the progression of terrorist groups and put them “on their back foot” for now.

That accepted, he said that what he calls the “terrorists’ den” is much larger than the south of Libya today. Le Drian explained: “[IS] which started to be present on the eastern side of Libya, not very far from Tobruk, in and around Derna, where they have a training camp. Well now they took Sirte, they took the airport and they occupy 200 kilometres of Libyan coast and they keep going ahead and spreading.”

He acknowledged there is an internationally recognised government in Tobruk with an army and a parliament which can claim legitimacy, but the larger cities of Tripoli and Misrata do not recognise it as a real government and fight among each other. In the absence of a political solution to that question the only military one he can see is an IS victory.

Le Drian noted that the day IS takes control of what he called the “failed state” is the day IS takes charge of migrants from Libya to Europe, adding:

“…and then terrorism is going to be strengthened in Europe because there’ll be two new elements for [IS]. First they’ll have more and more financial assets, because of all the taxes that are going to proceed for the crossing of the Meditterranean, and then terrorist infiltration among the migrants. So we are facing, now, a serious situation and the political situation does not exist today and if we do nothing this is exactly what is going to happen.”

Further explaining why Libya is his “main obsession” Le Drian said there are “relatively few foreign fighters that are present in Libya, they are very present in Syria and Iraq, and not only French citizens, by the way. We think that there is around 10, 12, 15 thousand coming from Europe but also from Tunisia, from Morocco, from Saudi Arabia, from Chechnya, Kazakhstan, even from Australia now. So the day some will come from Syria to Libya they will be 200 miles from the French coast, from the European coast.”

Le Drian also spoke at length about France’s commitment to the minimum two per cent of GDP defence budget target set for NATO members. He noted that France is spending about 1.86 per cent but the figure is increasing, in part due to the deployment of French troops in national defence following the Charlie Hebdo massacre by Islamist terrorists in January. France now has 18,600 more soldiers than planned for 2015 since increasing its budget.

Le Drian also discussed joint military efforts between France and the US, saying they had strengthened since 2013 to become “a solid pillar on which we can lean”. He noted that the two countries share the same evaluation and assessment of threats, adding that although priorities may differ “actually we have no difference in terms of strategic interests”.

Having discussed intelligence sharing between France and the US, Le Drian was asked at one point if that had been put at risk by the revelation that the NSA had been spying on three French Presidents. He replied:

“They talked about it, the two people who were interested in it, that is to say President Obama and President Hollande, they talked about it. They talked about it and they decided to meet, the meeting between the coordinator of French intelligence and his counterpart in the US. This meeting took place. So number one: both actors talked about it. Number two: people who were responsible for the different services talked about it. And number three: after that I no longer talk about it, but I’m here and I’m meeting my counterpart. So you know what that means. It means that beyond all these regrettable events, let’s say, and I keep on saying that, the cooperation elements are still there.”

Egypt’s military killed 241 militants in the Sinai from July 1-5, the army said Monday, including jihadists from the Islamic State group who launched spectacular attacks last week.

The military has poured troops and armour into the peninsula where security forces have been fighting an Islamist insurgency since then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

On July 1, jihadists from IS launched blistering attacks in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid – the scene of regular militant attacks – in which dozens were killed.
The military said 21 soldiers were killed in those attacks, after several media outlets reported higher tolls from security officials.
In figures released on Monday by the army spokesman on his Facebook page, the military said its forces killed 241 militants between July 1 and 5.

Four wanted militants and 29 suspected militants were also arrested.

Sixteen crude bombs were detonated, while 26 cars and 28 motorbikes belonging to militants were destroyed over the same period, the army said.

On Facebook, the army also posted photographs of dead militants, some even displayed on military tanks.

On Saturday, Sisi made a surprise visit to North Sinai, where in an address to troops at a camp whose location was not disclosed he said the region was now “totally stable”.

The jihadists say their attacks are in response to the bloody repression launched by the authorities after Morsi’s ouster, which has seen at least 1,400 people killed and thousands more jailed.

Most of the attacks on the security forces are claimed by a group calling itself “Sinai Province”.

Formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, it changed its name when it pledged allegiance to IS last November.

Tunisia has declared a state of emergency giving security forces more powers following the terrorist attack in which 38 tourists died.

Authorities had already tightened security, deploying more than 1,400 armed officers at hotels and beaches.

Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi said in a national address that ‘exceptional measures’ were needed.

Appealing for international counter terrorism support, he said: “In order to face up to this scourge we need to be prepared. We need to have enough troops, proper training and material means – we are in desperate need of material means.”

The state of emergency will initially be in place for 30 days.

Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Seifeddine Rezgui who opened fire at the beachfront Hotel Riu Imperial Marhaba in Sousse on June 26, killing 38 people including 30 British holidaymakers.

Tunisian authorities have also pledged to close some 80 mosques that were operating outside government control and accused of spreading extremism.

In March, two gunmen killed 22 people at the renowned Bardo museum in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis.

Egypt’s military launched airstrikes and ground operations that killed 63 Islamists in North Sinai, security sources said, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Sinai has recently witnessed some of the heaviest fighting between security forces and Islamists since the army ousted President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

Security sources said on Sunday that troops killed the 63 in villages between the towns of Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, Reuters reported.

The army found four hideouts and attacked them with Apache helicopters and ground troops. It also attacked vehicles belonging to the militants, the security sources added.

Islamic State’s Egypt affiliate, recently renamed Sinai Province, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police since Morsi’s removal.

Among the attacks claimed by the group since Morsi’s ouster was the assassination of a top Egyptian police general, who was gunned down as he left his home in a west Cairo neighborhood, and a bus bombing on a tour bus filled with South Korean tourists in the Sinai.

Though the vast peninsula has long been a security headache for Egypt and its neighbors, the removal of Morsi brought new violence that has grown into an Islamist insurgency that has spread out of the region.

Just last week, the Islamists carried out a multi-pronged attack in which some 50 Egyptian soldiers were killed.

Egyptian government officials have accused Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of links to Sinai attacks. The Brotherhood says it is a peaceful movement that wants to reverse what it calls a military coup through street protests.

Egypt’s interior ministry said on Sunday it had arrested 12 Brotherhood members who had formed three cells with the intention of carrying out attacks on policemen, soldiers and military and police bases, according to Reuters.

Also on Sunday, the prosecutors referred to trial 22 people charged with planting bombs near targets including the high court and cabinet buildings, state news agency MENA reported.

On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi said that Egypt had foiled an attempt by the Islamic State (ISIS) group to seize territory and set up an extremist state in the Sinai.

Sisi praised Egyptian troops for “foiling a very big plan” and added, “No one can impose on the Egyptians something they don’t want. To reach the Egyptians they have to pass through the army, the sons of Egypt.”

No less than 70 militants were killed in North Sinai by Egyptian security forces over the past 48 hours following a deadly attack by the Islamic State-affiliated Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis on the city of Sheikh Zuwied, state-owned MENA reported.

Security sources told MENA that 35 militants were killed Wednesday night while another 35 militants were killed on Thursday. The sources added that those militants were killed during their attempt to escape the Egyptian air forces’ strikes and that they were killed by the landmines they had previously planted on the highways targeting Egyptian security forces.

The sources revealed that among the militants who were killed on Thursday was leading Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis figure Kamal Allam.

On Wednesday, North Sinai witnessed the largest terrorist attack of its kind by ABM militants where battles between the Egyptian armed forces and militants continued for several hours in the Sheikh Zuwied area.

Battles between Islamist militants and the Egyptian army in North Sinai left at least 117 people dead — 17 army soldiers and 100 militants, according to official statements by the Egyptian armed forces.

A U.S. drone strike in Libya has killed senior jihadist leader Abu Iyadh, who was believed to be the mastermind of a series of terrorist plots inside and outside the North African country, including an attack on the U.S. Embasy in Tunisia, Libyan local media confirmed on Friday.

Iyadh, also known as Seifallah Ben Hassine, had been based in Libya since 2013, where he served as a senior militant leader in Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, and organized training camps for extremist militants..

Libya’s Al-Wasat paper quoted a Washington official as saying that Iyadh was neutralized during a U.S. raid on June 14, along with some other al-Qaida linked leaders.

The source added that Iyadh’s killing was announced after his body was identified through a DNA analysis.

Iyadh’s death was hailed as an important victory against terrorism by Libya’s neighboring Tunisia whose beach resort Sousse was attacked by Libya-trained extremists last Friday.

In March, 23 people were killed and around 50 injured when militants attacked a Tunisian museum.

Tunisian authorities blamed many of the attacks on terror cells established by Iyadh in Tunisia after the country’s political unrest in 2011.

Morocco said it arrested nine suspects for spreading Daesh militant group propaganda and trying to recruit people to join the extremist organisation.

The arrests were carried out in a number of cities and towns in the North African country, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The nine were suspected of “spreading propaganda on behalf of Daesh, encouraging youths to join the group and training them to use arms and make bombs,” said the ministry.They were also accused of using the Internet to promote the ideology of Daesh, said the ministry, adding that they would now face justice.

In April, Moroccan authorities said they dismantled a cell in the city of Fez that was recruiting fighters for Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

The arrests came after extremists claiming to belong to Daesh killed 21 foreign tourists and a policeman in an attack on Tunisia’s Bardo National Museum in March.

Morocco, which is on guard against such attacks, prides itself on being a bastion against extremism with its anti-extremist unit and training of imams to preach tolerance. Recently, Moroccan police have arrested three Afghans suspected of links with extremists as they prepared to board a plane to Denmark, officials said on Wednesday.

They said the three men were detained on Saturday at Marrakesh airport holding fake Pakistani passports.

They were also carrying “suspect documents with extremists contents,” according to a statement issued by the interior ministry. With North Africa on high alert since the extremists beach massacre last Friday in Tunisia, the ministry said an investigation had uncovered an international recruitment network for extremists and that the three Afghans would appear in court.

The Libyan air force today struck terrorist positions in Benghazi’s Leithi district with what appeared to be significantly more powerful munitions.

A witness told the Libya Herald: “There is no doubt that these bombs are different. I have not seen them before. They are bigger and their impact is greater”

Fighting on the ground continued but with no great intensity. No casualty figures were available. It is not clear if the government airstrikes on Sabri yesterday also involved the new bombs

The IDF ordered the closure of Israel’s Highway 12, which runs along the border with Egypt, starting Friday morning and until further notice.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot gave the order late Thursday night, a day after a deadly attack by Islamic State-affiliated extremists killed over 70 Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula. The closure was approved by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

The measure is meant to be temporary, Israel Radio reported.

Israel was on high alert following the sophisticated attack on Egyptian security services in neighboring Sinai. The Israel Defense Forces beefed up its presence along the border with Sinai following the attacks, as security officials cautioned that the IS-affiliated group Wilayat Sinai could attempt to overrun the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, the Defense Ministry announced that it has successfully upgraded its Iron Dome missile-defense system, without elaborating on the specific improvements. Israel has several such systems spread across the country, including in the Eilat area in the south.

A series of tests was performed to “widen the capacity and improve the performance” of the system, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It added that Israel faces “an unprecedented array of threats” presumably ranging from mortars to long-range missiles from a variety of origins.

Also Thursday, a top IDF official said the Israeli military had acquired intelligence that Hamas was providing weaponry and other support to the Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate, Wilayat Sinai, the group thought to be behind Wednesday’s attack.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, told the Arabic-language news network al-Jazeera that along with military support, Hamas has also been providing medical support to injured IS operatives.

Wednesday’s attack, which included a wave of suicide bombings and assaults on security installations by dozens of militants, saw Sinai’s deadliest fighting in decades. Security officials said dozens of troops were killed, along with nearly 100 attackers.

Mordechai claimed a high-ranking officer in Hamas’s military wing, named as Wa’al Faraj, has been smuggling injured Islamic State fighters into the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.

Another top Hamas commander involved in training fighters, Abdullah Kishta, had been lending his expertise to Islamic State jihadists in Sinai, Mordechai said, adding that the IDF has “proof” of these direct ties.

Wilayat Sinai (Province of Sinai) was known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis before it pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State.