17 militants killed in first US airstrikes on Libya

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has launched his first airstrike against Libya since taking office.

A series of US airstrikes on an Islamic State (IS) group camp in Libya apparently killed 17 militants and destroyed three vehicles, the US military said.

US Africa Command said that strikes on Friday targeted a camp 240km south-east of Sirte, a city that was once the IS group’s Libyan stronghold.

The camp was used to move fighters in and out of Libya, plot attacks and store weapons, Africaom said.

Trump previously said the US has “no role” in Libya after the Obama administration backed the 2011 revolt that toppled the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya led by former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The military also said Friday’s strike was conducted in co-ordination with the beleaguered UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

The Tripoli interim government has struggled to gain legitimacy amid charges of widespread corruption and comparisons to the “puppet” governments imposed by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq during the so-called “War on Terror”.

Last week, Tripoli agreed to a new UN roadmap backed by the US that hopes to reconcile Libya’s three rival governments and stabilise the North African country after six years of crisis.

The agreement came amid an increase in attacks by IS, which has bounced back from its December defeat in Sirte. teleSUR