The U.S. Africa Command on Friday said an airstrike killed eight suspected Islamic State militants in southern Libya near the town of Murzuq.
“In coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) conducted an airstrike targeting IS-Libya terrorists in the vicinity of Murzuq, Libya on Sept. 19, 2019,” AFRICOM said in a statement, reported Reuters.
“U.S. Africa Command conducted this airstrike to eliminate terrorist leaders and fighters and to disrupt terrorist activity,” said Stephen Townsend, U.S. Africa Command commander. “We will not allow them to use the current conflict in Libya as protection. Together with our Libyan partners, we will continue to deny terrorists safe haven in Libya.”
According to the statement, 8 terrorists were killed in the airstrike, causing no civilian casualties. AFRICOM regularly targets terrorists in Libya, in coordination with the UN-backed government. The command carried out only eight strikes against ISIS in Libya between when President Donald Trump took office in 2017 and March 2018,
In December 2018, AFRICOM’s airstrike killed 11 al-Qaida members and destroyed three vehicles in southwestern Libya. Notably, this is the first such attack by American forces in the country this year.
Libya is currently facing a war as forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to take the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in early April.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), clashes between the two sides since then have left more than 1,000 dead and about 5,500 injured.
The U.S. Embassy in Libya on Friday announced U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland held talks with Khalifa Haftar, who leads the so-called Libyan National Army, in Abu Dhabi. The talks were aimed at pushing toward a political deal between Hifter and Libya’s U.S. and United Nations-backed Government of National Accord.
