The U.S. military said Monday it has begun launching airstrikes against Islamic State inside Libya, a further expansion of the campaign to defeat the militant group.
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Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters the US launched airstrikes on five locations in Sirte Monday and two Tuesday, targeting tanks, vehicles, a rocket launcher and Islamic State fighting positions.
The air strikes were undertaken to make sure that Libyan forces were able to finish the job of fighting the radical militant group and to increase stability there, Mr Obama said. There are several hundred to about 1,000 ISIL fighters in Sirte, Cook said.
Before the offensive, the US estimated that ISIS had thousands of fighters in Libya, majority based in their Libyan stronghold. They have their forces on the ground conducting their efforts, and this will be in support of their efforts. According to the reports, U.S. President Barack Obama personally issued the directive to attack ISIS targets in Libya after consulting with senior-level officials at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Libya’s pro-government militias – mainly from the western city of Misrata – have been waging an offensive against the Islamic State group in Sirte since May, but it has recently stalled. Monday’s airstrikes were the first by the USA on the group’s Libya branch since February.
Sarraj said his government requested the United States “operate only in the area of Sirte and for a limited period of time with air raids and without ground troops”, and that his government refuses any type of foreign intervention without its specific mandate or authorisation.
He said strikes on Monday targeted a specific tank location and two Islamic State vehicles that posed a threat to GNA forces. In February, American F-15E fighter-bombers struck a DAESH training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border, killing more than 40.
The unity government requested the U.S. strikes to help them conquer the city, though as one of three formal governments in Libya, it is unclear if the USA is also committing itself to seeing that this particular government ends up with the city, even if it means war with the other two.
Forces aligned with the United Nations -backed government have been battling Islamic State in Sirte since May.
Also on Tuesday, Italy said it would consider allowing the United States to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for strikes against Isis in Libya if asked.
The US has previously carried out occasional strikes in Libya as part of its anti-IS campaign, although the broadening of its mandate points to a longer presence in the country. But Pentagon officials said they did not know how many ISIS fighters may have been killed. The power and security vacuum left the country a breeding ground for militias and militants, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates.
Libyan’s interim government requested the attack, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
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But U.S. officials said airstrikes are different, marking the start of a sustained air campaign.
