But risk analyst Riccardo Fabiani of the Eurasia Group argued that the group’s expansion in Libya had been limited.
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Libya has been sliding deeper into conflict since the 2011 uprising that ousted long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of its main cities and oil wealth.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the strike in addition to continuing attacks from the Islamic State group on petroleum facilities near Sidra and called for a national unity government as “the most effective method for Libyans to confront terrorism in all its kinds”.
The NYT reports the Islamic State’s headquarters in Surt have “swelled with foreign fighters, including veterans of the wars in Iraq and Syria”.
The town is also regarded as a centre for illegal migrants seeking to reach Europe.
The oil-rich country has been deeply divided between the Islamist government based in the capital Tripoli, and the internationally-recognized administration in the east of the country.
Witnesses said residents were ferrying victims to several hospitals in ambulances and cars.
“Despite IS’s evident presence in Libya, various political groups are still consumed with their struggle for power and control”.
The bombing came days after IS launched an assault on the nation’s biggest oil port.
Oil is Libya’s main natural resource, and the country sits on reserves estimated at 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa.
Mohamed Eljarh, a Libya analyst with the Atlantic Council, said the Zliten attack was aimed as a show of strength and to highlight the vulnerability of security forces.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest offered the U.S.’s condolences for those killed and injured, but said his country has not yet determined who “is responsible for carrying out this cowardly act of terrorism”.
The Libyan Ministry of Health of the Government of National Salvation has announced a state of emergency due to the current situation in Zliten. In the meantime, multiple hospitals have received the bodies of both the wounded and dead and are calling for blood donations due to the sheer amount of people injured in the attack.
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The attack took place just hours after another attack that killed more than 50 people in a police center in Zliten, 170 km east of Tripoli.
