U.S., French, British and Italian special operations forces and military experts have been assisting Libyan troops fighting IS militants in eastern and western Libya.
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“The first American airstrikes on precise positions of the Daesh (IS) organization were carried out today, causing heavy losses… in Sirte”, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in a televised speech.
The move comes at the request of the United Nations-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), and authorised by President Barack Obama, according to statement from Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook.
“This has allowed our forces on the ground to take control of strategic positions”, he said, adding that the American involvement would be “limited in time and will not go beyond Sirte and its suburbs”.
The head of the United States Africa Command said this past spring that ISIS had about 5,000 fighters in Sirte. “They are consistent with our approach to combating ISIL by working with capable and motivated local forces”.
And Dunford estimated in mid-July that there were only a few hundred militants still inside Sirte, which the group has used as a headquarters.
The last acknowledged USA air strikes in Libya were on an Islamic State training camp in the western city of Sabratha in February.
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“We are also searching for vehicles carrying large quantities of (black market) fuel, for fear that they may be smuggling it to ISIL”, said Libyan military official Faraj Salem Ammar. It remains beset by armed militias, as well as Islamic State, and until recently had two rival governments.
