A U.S. senior administration official said USA action would be limited to strikes and information sharing to support these, and that American troops would not take part in any ground operations to support the GNA.
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The air strikes came amid fears about Isil’s increased threat to Europe. Officials claimed the attack resulted in “major casualties” but no ground forces were deployed.
Cook said the US would vet its specific targets as part of a “collaborative process” with the Libyan government. “The first air strikes were carried out at specific locations in Sirte today causing severe losses to enemy ranks”, he said.
The U.S. military has conducted two previous airstrikes against specific ISIS targets in Libya, but the latest strikes are the first in support of the current Libyan government’s military campaign against ISIS. Before the offensive, the US estimated that ISIS had thousands of fighters in Libya, majority based in their Libyan stronghold. In February, an airstrike in Libya killed 49 fighters from the Islamic State, also known as ISIL.
The latest campaign comes four years after North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, led by the U.S., Britain and France, intervened in the country’s Arab Spring-inspired uprising against longtime Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
He also added up by saying that If IS lost control of Sirte, which it captured in June 2015, it’d be a significant drawback to the insurgent group that has additionally faced some military defeats in Iraq and Syria. The group was weakened by an offensive launched in May by local militias, including many under the control of the United Nations -brokered government. The deal calls for a transitional period of up to two years, followed by a vote on a draft constitution and then presidential or parliamentary elections.
The pro-GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western Libya established during the 2011 revolt that overthrew Kadhafi.
It said the strikes were authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama.
“They are consistent with our approach to combating ISIL by working with capable and motivated local forces”, Cook said Monday, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State.
In Washington, the Pentagon said the raids were launched in response to a request from Sarraj s Government of National Accord.
The White House said USA assistance to Libya would be limited to air strikes and information sharing. He said any other foreign intervention is not allowed without coordination.
The operation would be of “limited duration” and no United States ground forces would be deployed, he added.
US forces have begun a series of “precision airstrikes” against the Islamic State’s main branch in Libya, the Pentagon said Monday, signaling an expansion of American military action against the group, whose footprint has spread into North Africa over the past year.
The terrorists seized the Mediterranean coastal city past year, but the Libyan forces have been fighting to take it over since May.
Dunford estimated in mid-July that there were only a few hundred militants still inside Sirte, which the Libyan group has used as its headquarters.
On Monday, the Department of Defense announced that the USA military had conducted airstrikes against Daesh jihadists in Libya at the invitation of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA).
US officials, who estimate that there are fewer than 1,000 ISIS fighters in Sirte, say that USA warplanes could provide a decisive advantage to the attackers and help break the stalemate along the fighting fronts in the southern and western part of the city.
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Italian officials said Tuesday that they would consider allowing bases in the southern portion of their country to be used by USA forces in the fight against the terrorist group.
