The government side lost 41 dead, the jihadists 49, a Britain-based war monitor said. Clashes in the Syrian Desert between pro-government forces and holdouts of the Islamic State group have killed at least 90 combatants this month, a war monitor said on Wednesday.

The head of Russia’s foreign intelligence, Sergei Naryshkin, said: “We have to be concerned about the South Caucasus becoming a new launch pad for international terrorist organisations.”

Washington’s active role is tied by analysts to the influx of foreign mercenaries in Libya and wariness about Russia’s growing role. Egypt’s involvement in efforts led by the US State Department, represented by its embassy in Tripoli and the acting UN envoy to Libya, US diplomat Stephanie Williams, has surprised …