US fighter jets bomb Libya for the first time since the fall of former dictator Muammar al Gaddafi (2011). The area of Sirte still under the control of the Islamic State, the only target of the raids, was hit.
The official confirmation comes from the Pentagon spokesman, Peter Cook, who stresses that the intervention was carried out at the request of the government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and authorized by President Barack Obama", following consultations with the defense secretary, Ashton Carter, and with the Chief of the Joint Staff, Joseph Dunford.
Sarraj himself revealed that his government had asked for "direct support for the United States to carry out air raids against IS in Sirte", while continuing to refuse "any kind of foreign interference without a mandate or authorization from the Government of National Accord". .
In his speech on TV, the Libyan prime minister declared that “American fighters carried out air raids against the Islamic State in Sirte in coordination with the Operation Room of the operation at Bonyan al Marsous. The US air force – explained Sarraj – hit some positions of the Caliphate in Sirte, inflicting heavy losses on the enemies”. An "air aid only" that "will be limited to a well-defined period of time, always in the area of Sirte and its periphery", reassured the Libyan leader, finally specifying that "there will be no US military presence on the ground".
