Leading IS operative was target

US planes have struck multiple targets in Libya, hitting an Islamic State training camp and a senior extremist leader, American defence officials said yesterday.

More than 40 people were killed and others wounded, some critically, according to local officials.

One official described the strikes as being carried out “against an Isil training camp” and said an attack near Sabratha, not far from the Tunisian border, probably killed IS operative Noureddine Chouchane, who is believed to be Tunisian.

The official said up to 60 people were at the camp at the time of the strike.

A witness in the city said he heard two explosions coming from the nearby village of Qasr Talel. He said the house that was targeted belongs to AbdelHakim al- Mashawat, known locally as an IS militant.

The

official Facebook page of Sabratha city council put the death toll at over 40 with more wounded.

Sabratha is one of the main launching points for smugglers’ boats heading to Europe. It has been also a transit point for North African jihadists joining IS affiliates in their strongholds in the central city of Sirte and eastern cities such as Benghazi. US President Barack Obama earlier this year directed his national security teamto bolster counter-terrorism efforts in Libya while also pursuing diplomatic possibilities for solving its political crisis. US officials had said they were holding off on sustained military action against IS targets in Libya until a government was formed, a process that is still incomplete The US military has been closely monitoring IS movements in Libya, and small teams of military personnel have moved in and out of the country.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook confirmed the targeted extremist was Chouchane, a Tunisian national who was “an Isil senior facilitator in Libya associated with the training camp”.

Mr Cook said Tunisian officials inMay2015named Chouchaneasasuspect ina March 182015 attackonthe Bardo Museum in Tunis.

Another official said the US believes Chouchane was killed. He said the attack did not herald the start of a sustained US air campaign in Libya but was an example of opportunistic strikes targeting key IS operatives.

“One of the main launching points for smugglers’ boats to Europe”

ATunisian described as a key IS operative is thought dead