US air strikes kill 17 Islamic State militants in Libya

WASHINGTON: Six US air strikes on an Islamic State desert camp in Libya killed 17 militants and destroyed three vehicles, the US military said on Sunday, the first American strikes in Libya since President Donald Trump took office in January.

US Africa Command said in a statement that strikes on Friday targeted a camp 240km southeast of Sirte, a city that was once the Islamic State stronghold in Libya. The camp was used to move fighters in and out of Libya, plot attacks and store weapons, the statement said.

“ISIS and al- Qaeda have taken advantage of ungoverned spaces in Libya to establish sanctuaries for plotting, inspiring and directing terror attacks,” the statement said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were carried out by armed drones.

The last-known US strike in Libya was on Jan. 19, a day before Trump’s inauguration, when more than 80 Islamic State militants, some believed to be plotting attacks in Europe, died in US air strikes on camps outside Sirte.

That strike was led by two B-2 bombers, which dropped about 100 precision- guided munitions on the camps.

Islamic State took over Sirte in early 2015, turning it into its most important base outside the Middle East and attracting large numbers of foreign fighters to the city. The group imposed its hard-line rule on residents and extended its control along about 250km of Libya’s Mediterranean coastline.

But it struggled to keep a footing elsewhere in Libya and was forced out of Sirte by last December after a six-month campaign led by brigades from the western city of Misrata and backed by US air strikes.

Islamic State militants have shifted to desert valleys and inland hills southeast of Tripoli as they seek to exploit Libya’s political divisions after their defeat in Sirte.

The statement said the strikes were carried out in coordination with Libya’s Government of National Accord. — Reuters