FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber © Mike Blake / Reuters
US B-2 bombers strike ISIS camps in Libya – defense officials
RT.com
US B-2 bombers hit Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) camps outside the city of Sirte in Libya, AFP and Reuters report, citing US defense officials.
According to the unnamed sources, the bombardment struck IS targets some 45km from Sirte.
Dozens of IS terrorists have been killed in the US bombardment, AFP reports, citing officials.
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The mission was coordinated with Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), two defense officials told Reuters.
Sirte was once an IS stronghold in Libya, before government forces and local militia groups retook the city in December last year.
In the aftermath, GNA officials said they would continue to clear the territories around Sirte of IS jihadists.
The GNA mission to drive out IS militants from Sirte has frequently been aided by US airstrikes.
Back in August, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said during a press conference that the US will continue to “strike at ISIL anywhere it raises its head.”
He stressed that Libya is “one of those places” and that Washington will continue to provide airstrikes there “as long as [the Libyan government] is requesting them.”
Islamic State gained a foothold in Libya after the country plunged into chaos following the NATO-backed ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The B-2 bomber is a multipurpose stealth bomber first used by the US during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. It was designed primarily to deliver nuclear weapons but has been used extensively as a conventional bomber in major US military campaigns, from Afghanistan to Libya.