‘At the request of the Libyan Government of National Accord, the United States military conducted precision air strikes against ISIL targets in Sirte, Libya, to support GNA-affiliated forces seeking to defeat ISIL in its primary stronghold in Libya, ‘ Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said, using another name for ISIS.
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French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault spoke to Sarraj by telephone to “renew the full support of France to the national unity government acting to unify Libya and restore its institutions”, the French foreign ministry said Tuesday.
At a news conference Monday, Cook said the air campaign against targets in Sirte “does not have an end point at this particular moment in time”, and that President Obama had authorized additional airstrikes “in close coordination with the GNA”.
The GNA forces have been struggling for weeks retake territory from the Islamic State – also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh – in the northern Libyan city of Sirte, along Mediterranean coast.
Targeted U.S. air strikes against IS militants in their stronghold of Sirte, a Libyan coastal city, began on Monday.
The U.S. has conducted anti-ISIS airstrikes in Libya in the past, but this marks the first time the strikes came at the request of the Western-backed unity government.
The Pentagon said one strike targeted a tank while a second strike was directed at two Isis vehicles.
ISIS was believed to have about 5,000 fighters in Sirte, the head of the United States Africa Command said this past spring.
“The city drew worldwide attention in February 2015 when an ISIS video showed its fighters decapitating 21 men, nearly all of them Egyptian Coptic Christians who were kidnapped in Sirte”.
Western powers have become increasingly concerned at Islamic State’s growing presence in Libya. The U.S. military now believes there are only a few hundred to as many as 2,000 ISIS fighters left there.
‘This has allowed our forces on the ground to take control of strategic positions, he said.
The fall of Sirte, 280 miles east of the capital Tripoli, would represent a major setback for ISIS, which has also faced losses in Syria and Iraq.
The GNA formed as the result of a U.N.-mediated deal signed in December to end a conflict between two rival governments and armed groups that supported them.
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No U.S. forces are involved in the ground offensive, the official added.
