By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 21 February 2016:
There are unconfirmed reports that an unidentified warplane today destroyed a vessel carrying IS fighters . . .[restrict]and munitions off the Libyan coast near Sabratha.
A picture circulating on social media appears to show the mushroom cloud of an explosion some miles out to sea. The authorities in Tripoli have been reporting that aircraft taking off from Misrata have attacked IS positions in Sirte. But there has been no claim of a maritime attack. Nor has the Air Force in the government-controlled east of the country said that it sank the boat.
Therefore if the air strike did indeed take place, it was carried out by a foreign aircraft. Such as assault would fit the narrative that, following Friday mornings devastating US airstrikes on two IS compounds in Sabratha, the terrorists had been pulling out of the area.
The Pentagon has yet to acknowledge formally that the raid resulted in the death of two kidnapped Serbian diplomats held in one of the buildings. The Americans are sticking to their line that they had been watching the IS locations for weeks and had received no indications that “civilians” were present.
They have nevertheless expressed their deepest condolences to the Serbian government and the families of the slain envoys, communications officer Sladjana Stankovic and her colleague Jovica Stepic. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that the US would share whatever information it could with the Serbian government. He also stressed that when carrying out operations, the US military went to extraordinary lengths to limit the risk of civilian casualties and in its campaign to defeat IS, it would continue to do so. [/restrict]
