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The Nigerian-based fanatics have dispatched up to 200 heavily armed troops to bolster ISIS forces in north Africa in a terrifying sign of the growing alliance between the two feared groups.

ISIS is fighting to take control of Libya - which has been engulfed by a chaotic civil war since the fall of Colonel Gadaffi - because it believes that it is a launchpad to Europe.

Boosted by the deployment, gleeful ISIS fighters boasted online of how they will use their stronghold in the north African nation to invade Italy and other parts of southern Europe.

The terrorists have described Libya as the "gateway to Rome" and it is thought they are planning to stow away fighters on smugglers' boats full of migrants destined for Italy.