By Sami Zaptia.
London, 7 June 2018:
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced that it had conducted a precision airstrike yesterday near the Libyan city of Bani Walid, located 178 km south east of the capital Tripoli.
In its statement released yesterday, AFRICOM said that the airstrike, conducted in coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), resulted in the death of four ISIS-Libya militants. It added that at the time of the statement release AFRICOM assessed that no civilians were killed in the airstrike.
AFRICOM said that the United States will not relent in its mission to degrade, disrupt, and destroy terrorist organizations and bring stability to the region and that it was committed to maintaining pressure on the terror network and preventing terrorists from establishing safe haven.
It will be recalled that AFRICOM had announced the conclusion of its military operations, part of ”Operation Odyssey Lightning” against IS/DAESH in and around the Libyan city of Sirte on 19 December 2016 following a similar announcement by the Serraj-led PC a day earlier.
The eight months of fighting in Sirte had taken the lives of at least 712 Bunyan Marsous fighters and the wounding of 3,210 more.
On 24 March this year, Africom confirmed that it had conducted air strikes against extremists in the Ubari area of southern Libya killing two al-Qa’ida terrorists, including Musa Abu Dawud, a high ranking al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) official . These were believed to be the first airstrikes in the south of Libya.
https://www.libyaherald.com/2018/03/28/africom-conduct-first-anti-al-qaeda-aqim-air-strikes-in-southern-libya/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2016/12/21/africom-announces-end-of-its-military-operations-in-sirte/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2018/03/07/africom-reports-on-its-2018-policy-in-libya/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/09/19/africom-perspective-on-libya-sheds-light-on-us-policy/
