US warplanes reportedly bombed an Islamic State (ISIS) camp in Libya early on Friday. The New York Times, citing an unnamed western official, reported that the target of the strike was a senior Tunisian member of the group, the 36-year-old Noureddine Chouchane, who carried out two attacks in that country last year.
The mayor of the western Libyan city of Sabrathan, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters that unidentified planes launched airstrikes there, killing 41 people. The strike hit the Qasr Talil district.
Sabrathan sits near the Tunisian border and ISIS members are believed to have trained in that area for terror attacks in Tunisia. Tunis has responded by digging a trench.
"We are assessing the results of the operation," said the spokesman for the US Pentagon's Africa Command Col. Mark Cheadle
The US has expressed alarm at the rise of ISIS in Libya, which has been plagued by internal conflict since 2011, but has not extended its anti-ISIS air campaign to that country.
Earlier this month US Secretary of State John Kerry said they would intervene if "some turn of events, like weapons of mass destruction ending up in the hands of the wrong people," transpired.
US and European officials have called on the Libyans to form on a united government and then call for those outside powers to assist them more directly in their efforts to combat ISIS.
However US President Barack Obama warned ahead of this strike that the US "will continue to take actions where there is a clear target in mind."
The mayor of the western Libyan city of Sabrathan, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters that unidentified planes launched airstrikes there, killing 41 people. The strike hit the Qasr Talil district.
Sabrathan sits near the Tunisian border and ISIS members are believed to have trained in that area for terror attacks in Tunisia. Tunis has responded by digging a trench.
"We are assessing the results of the operation," said the spokesman for the US Pentagon's Africa Command Col. Mark Cheadle
The US has expressed alarm at the rise of ISIS in Libya, which has been plagued by internal conflict since 2011, but has not extended its anti-ISIS air campaign to that country.
Earlier this month US Secretary of State John Kerry said they would intervene if "some turn of events, like weapons of mass destruction ending up in the hands of the wrong people," transpired.
US and European officials have called on the Libyans to form on a united government and then call for those outside powers to assist them more directly in their efforts to combat ISIS.
However US President Barack Obama warned ahead of this strike that the US "will continue to take actions where there is a clear target in mind."
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