ERBIL - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford told reporters on Monday that now after IS has lost it’s caliphate in Raqqa and Mosul, it will try to establish a presence elsewhere.



“So, we're dealing with a global challenge. I believe that ISIS will attempt to establish a physical presence outside of Iraq and Syria, now that they have lost their caliphate in Raqqa and Mosul,” General Dunford said.



The likely contender for housing the new base of operations for the Islamic State, argues Dunford, could be decided by one of their affiliate parties in Africa.



“I think it's shifting [the focus of ISIS]. I'm not sure I'm ready to say it's shifting just to Africa. We're dealing with a challenge that exists from west Africa to southeast Asia. We've seen manifestations of it in Europe. We've seen inspired attacks here in the United States,” he added.



The United States Government is already beginning conversations in preparation of the next phase in its war against the Islamic State.



“That's one of the reasons” said Dunford, as to why he brought 75 chiefs of defense and their representatives to begin the next phase of the campaign. “I described it as an inflection point,” he said.



However, he added that they haven’t decided yet about additional coalition deployments to other countries to fight ISIS.



“I think it's premature to talk about what additional troops or changes in ROE we'd make. Look, we're watching very carefully, with the fall of Raqqa and Mosul, what the enemy will do. You see that,” General Dunford said.

As for which country in particular Africa, Military officials are still not yet entirely sure.



“One of the places that we know ISIS has aspirations to establish a larger presence is in Africa. We know how important Libya and the Sinai have been to the Islamic State. We know how much they have tried to get into east Africa, and, of course, the scenario we're talking about here today in West Africa,” he said

“So, we're watching that very carefully, and we are going to make recommendations to the secretary and to the president for the allocation of forces that meet what we -- what we see as the threat, what we anticipate the threat to be. But I certainly wouldn't talk about what we will do tomorrow, at this moment,” he concluded.