U.S. aircraft strike targeting IS in Libya kills 40

U.S. warplanes have attacked an Islamic State group training camp and a “high-value” target in Libya, an American spokesman confirmed. Libyan officials said a dawn raid killed more than 40 people in Sabratha outside of the capital Tripoli, where suspected members of the Islamic State group were gathered. The U.S. official could not immediately confirm the number of fatalities. A house in Sabratha was completely destroyed, said Hussein al-Dawadi, an official in the city located about 70 kilometres (42 miles) west of Tripoli near the border with Tunisia.

The vast majority of those killed were Tunisians who were probably members of IS.

Hussein al-Dawadi

Sabratha is one of the areas where Western officials say Islamic State militants had some presence as part of their expansion in the North African state. The gunmen who carried out attacks at a Tunis museum and a beach hotel last year, killing dozens of people, all trained at militant camps in Libya before returning to their home country. A Western official said Friday’s air strikes targeted a senior Tunisian operative linked to both of last year’s attacks, which were claimed by Islamic State.