US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter insisted yesterday that Libyans would do most of the fighting against Islamic State (Isis) terrorists in their country.

His comments came a day after anonymous officials in his department revealed that they were asking the Treasury for $200 million (£140m) next year to fight a new war against Isis across north and west Africa.

That figure is likely to cover increased drone operations over Africa, as the military struggles to provide real-time intelligence through 24-hour unmanned aircraft patrols in the coming years.

It is the first time that the Pentagon has included a separate increase for operations against the Islamic State in Africa.

En route to Brussels yesterday for a meeting of his European counterparts, Mr Carter claimed: “The approach to Libya will be to help the Libyans to expel Isis, which is basically our strategic approach everywhere else.”

In Britain, Stop the War Coalition convenor Lindsey German tore into the latest admission of a second Western intervention in Libya since 2011.

“Then, air strikes casued the deaths of 30,000 people and led to a civil war which has wrecked the country and has led to a rise in terrorist groups including Isis,” she said.

“Now we are told that drone and other air strikes can defeat them.

“But in reality it is the interventions which have helped create the terrain where such groups can grow.

“The people of Africa do not need more war, poverty and misery.”