Pentagon confirms Qaeda higher-up killed in Libya strike

A high-ranking Al-Qaeda operative and another jihadist were killed in a US air strike in Libya, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

The March 24 strike near Ubari in southern Libya killed "two Al-Qaeda terrorists, including Musa Abu Dawud, a high ranking Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) official," the US military's Africa Command said in a statement.

Officials said the strike had been coordinated with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

"Dawud trained AQIM recruits in Libya for attack operations in the region," the statement read.

"He provided critical logistics support, funding and weapons to AQIM, enabling the terrorist group to threaten and attack US and Western interests in the region."

Libya has been gripped by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations and multiple militias vying for control of the oil-rich country.

Jihadists and people-traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos to gain a foothold in the North African country.