US launches new airstrikes in Libya

The US military conducted airstrikes in Libya on Monday to target the Daesh stronghold of Sirte, marking the first time the US has carried out such operations in the country.

Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya's unity government, announced the strikes in a televised speech.

The Pentagon press secretary, Peter Cook, also said in a statement, "At the request of the Libyan Government of National Accord, the United States military conducted precision airstrikes against ISIL targets in Sirte, Libya, to support GNA-affiliated forces seeking to defeat ISIL in its primary stronghold in Libya.”

Cook added that the US strikes in Sirte "will continue," without elaborating.

Foreign forces, including from France, the US and Britain, are in Libya in a purported fight against the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group. In May, the US and the UK had both confirmed the presence of their troops in Libya.

However, Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) has denounced the presence of foreign troops as a “violation” of the country’s sovereignty.

Sirte, the major stronghold of Daesh outside Iraq and Syria, fell to the Takfiri terrorists in February 2015.

SS