The United States has carried out airstrikes in Libya that killed at least 30 people this morning. The strikes hit a farmhouse outside Sabratha, to the west of the capital Tripoli. The spokesperson of the Tripoli-based government says the farmhouse had been seized by ISIL fighters. Unnamed Pentagon officials told The New York Times the strikes were targeting a Tunisian man suspected of being involved in two ISIL attacks in Tunisia last year. It is not yet clear if the Tunisian man was killed. The strikes come as the U.S. weighs increasing military action in Libya, which has been torn by violence since a 2011 U.S.-backed military intervention ousted longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. In recent months, U.S. and British special operations teams have been increasingly operating in Libya. Today’s strikes come three weeks after General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he wants to begin taking “decisive military action” against ISIL in Libya.
Libya: U.S. Airstrikes Kill 30 in Escalation of U.S. Military Action
HeadlineFeb 19, 2016