US airstrikes in Libya killing eight Islamic State militants

U.S. forces carried out an airstrike in southwest Libya killing eight suspected Islamic State militants near the town of Murzuq, Africa Command said on Friday.

AFRICOM said it carried out the strike targeting ISIS fighters around Murzuq in southwest Libya on Thursday, September 19.

The strike was coordinated with the Libyan Government of National Accord, the U.N.-recognized government on the divided country.

“U.S. Africa Command conducted this airstrike to eliminate terrorist leaders and fighters and to disrupt terrorist activity,” AFRICOM commander General Stephen Townsend said.

“We will not allow them to use the current conflict in Libya as protection. Together with our Libyan partners, we will continue to deny terrorists safe haven in Libya.”

Although AFRICOM has carried out a number of strikes in Libya since 2016, it rarely targets Islamic State fighters. The command carried out only eight strikes against ISIS in Libya between when President Donald Trump took office in 2017 and March 2018, media reported last year.