Al-Qaeda In Libya Hit With US Airstrike

Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) have said that the US carried out an airstrike against Al-Qaeda on Wednesday night in southern Libya.

A spokesperson for President Fayez al-Sarraj said the strike hit near the town of Ubari, around 900 kilometres south of the capital, and was carried out in coordination with the GNA, according to reports from the AFP news agency.

“A number of members of terrorist organisation al-Qaeda” were targeted in the military operation, said Mohamad al-Sallak, in a statement cited by AFP.

The US regularly carries out airstrikes in Libya against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State armed group (IS).

An IS member was killed last August by the US with AFP citing a source who described the IS fighter as a local leader of the jihadist group.

The US said it killed four members of an IS-affiliated group in June 2018 near Bani Walid, in northern Libya.

In March 2018, a senior al-Qaeda member and another jihadist fighter were killed in an airstrike, according to the Pentagon.

Libya has been wracked by civil war since the toppling and killing of former leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

The GNA was created after an UN-backed deal in December 2015 but has failed to gain influence across the entire country.