in february 2016, u.s. officials believed that there were 5,000 to 6,000 isil fighters in libya, and gave a maximum estimate of up to 6,500. this marked an increase from previous estimates in the 2,000 to 3,000 range. many of isil's new recruits came from iraq, syria and tunisia. at this point, isil's strength was increasing in libya while simultaneously declining in iraq and syria.