Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shukri, has warned that jihadists are poised to take control of Libyan oil fields.

On a visit to London on 27 October, he urged the West to do more to curb the rise of militant Islam in North Africa.

“The natural resources in Libya represent a very large pool of wealth and funding that will fund terrorist activity not only there but in other parts of the world,” he said. “You see [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] in Iraq utilising gasoline and the black market, and in Libya this is a danger that will have a big impact for us.”

Earlier in October, the leaders of Egypt and Sudan pledged to assist army units and militias that are allied with Libya’s elected parliament, the House of Representatives.

Currently, the House of Representatives is based in the small eastern city of Tobruk, due to concerns members could be vulnerable to attack if the assembly was located in one of Libya’s larger cities.

A rival Islamist parliament holds sway in Tripoli, the capital, while fierce fighting continues in the second city of Benghazi as forces loyal to the government battle to take territory from Islamist militias.