US warplanes have carried out air strikes on positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Libyan city of Sirte for the first time, the country's unity government head announced.
"The first American air strikes on precise positions of the Daesh (ISIL) organisation were carried out today, causing heavy losses... in Sirte," prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in a televised speech on Monday.
"At the request of the Libyan Government of National Accord, the United States military conducted precision air strikes against ISIL targets in Sirte, Libya, to support GNA-affiliated forces seeking to defeat ISIL in its primary stronghold in Libya," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
The Tripoli-based GNA launched an operation in May to retake the ISIL bastion of Sirte, the hometown of slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi, which the fighters have controlled since June 2015.
The fall of Sirte, 450 kilometres east of Tripoli, would be a major blow to ISIL, which has also faced a series of setbacks in Syria and Iraq.
The battle for Sirte has killed around 280 pro-government fighters and wounded more than 1,500, according to medical sources at the unity forces' command centre.
The pro-GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western Libya established during the 2011 revolt that overthrew Qaddafi.
A militia set up to guard the country's main oil facilities has also been advancing on ISIL.
The GNA was the result of a UN-brokered power-sharing agreement struck in December, but it has yet to be endorsed by Libya's elected parliament based in the country's far east.
Source: Agencies, aljazeera.com
1/8/16
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Related:
"The first American air strikes on precise positions of the Daesh (ISIL) organisation were carried out today, causing heavy losses... in Sirte," prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in a televised speech on Monday.
- In Washington, the Pentagon said the raids were launched in response to a request from the unity government.
"At the request of the Libyan Government of National Accord, the United States military conducted precision air strikes against ISIL targets in Sirte, Libya, to support GNA-affiliated forces seeking to defeat ISIL in its primary stronghold in Libya," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
The Tripoli-based GNA launched an operation in May to retake the ISIL bastion of Sirte, the hometown of slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi, which the fighters have controlled since June 2015.
The fall of Sirte, 450 kilometres east of Tripoli, would be a major blow to ISIL, which has also faced a series of setbacks in Syria and Iraq.
The battle for Sirte has killed around 280 pro-government fighters and wounded more than 1,500, according to medical sources at the unity forces' command centre.
The pro-GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western Libya established during the 2011 revolt that overthrew Qaddafi.
A militia set up to guard the country's main oil facilities has also been advancing on ISIL.
The GNA was the result of a UN-brokered power-sharing agreement struck in December, but it has yet to be endorsed by Libya's elected parliament based in the country's far east.
Source: Agencies, aljazeera.com
1/8/16
--
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