U.S Launches Airstrikes on Islamic State in Libya

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On Monday August 1st, The U.S. struck Islamic State targets in Sirte, a port city on the Northern Libyan coast. The attacks were coordinated with the UN-backed Libyan Unity Government, which was formed in April 2016.

The Pentagon claimed that the strikes were designed to “help deny ISIL a safe haven in Libya from which it could attack the United States and [its] allies.”

Despite having been dealt losses in recent months, the Islamic State has gained a foothold in Libya taking advantage of disorder between infighting between rival governments. Following the death of former President Moammar Ghadaffi in 2011, numerous groups struggled for power following elections in 2012 and the Islamist Libyan Dawn militias seizing power in the capital of Tripoli, forcing the recognized government to flee to Tobruk.

Despite Turkey and Qatar’s support for the Islamist government, the GNC ultimately conceded power to a new U.N-brokered unity government operating out of Tripoli.

The internationally-recognized Tobruk government refused to step down however, leading to two recognized governments in the North African country.

While both governments maintain their status as the legitimate Libyan government, they each continue to fight the Islamic State, which controls a sliver of territory along the Libyan coast; despite the fact that it faced recent territorial setbacks, it has been described by CIA director John Brennan as “”the most developed and the most dangerous [IS group outside of Iraq and Syria].

The Islamic State is not the only jihadist group operating in Libya. Since the fall of Moammar Ghadafi, numerous Islamist militias have fought for control over parts of the country. These groups include Al-Qaeda affiliates such as Ansar al-Sharia, which carried out an attack against the U.S consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. On July 20th, the Benghazi Defense Brigades, a different Al Qaeda affiliate in Benghazi, shot down a Tobruk Government helicopter containing French Special Forces. The event revealed the French government’s support of the Tobruk Government in spite of E.U sanctions against it.

On August 2nd, the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, a coalition of Islamist militias that contains Ansar al-Sharia, claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack outside of a hospital which killed 22 people and wounded 20 more.

Libya’s proximity to Europe in combination with the high concentration of jihadist groups, including the Islamic State, in northern Libya poses a unique threat to the continent, as it would allow jihadists to easily enter Europe to commit attacks. It is thus crucial that the U.S and its NATO allies continue to do everything in their power to deny the Islamic State a foothold in North Africa.

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