US plans massive air raids in Libya: Report
The US is weighing military options, including air raids, in Libya which is engulfed in violence since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted after NATO airstrikes, the New York Times reports.
The Pentagon and the highly secretive Joint Special Operations Command have provided the White House with “the most detailed set of military options yet” in Libya, it said.
The plan includes potential airstrikes on Daesh training camps, command centers, munitions depots and other militant targets in four areas of Libya.
The daily said possible strikes are also aimed at helping the Western-backed Libyan militias battle Daesh on the ground.
The plan comes amid international efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Libya and forge a unity government.
Libya has been grappling with violence and political uncertainty since former dictator Gaddafi was deposed and later killed in 2011 amid NATO airstrikes.
Since September 2014, the US has been conducting air raids against what are said to be Daesh targets in Syria without any permit from Damascus or a UN mandate.
The air assaults are an extension of the US aerial campaign in Iraq, which started in August 2014.
On many occasions, the airstrikes have targeted Iraqi and Syrian infrastructure and left many civilians dead, but failed to disband Takfiri groups.
Daesh took control of Libya’s northern port city of Sirte in June 2015, almost four months after it announced its presence in the city.
The group made it the first city to be ruled by the Takfiris outside Iraq and Syria.
The US is also carrying airstrikes in Somalia. On Saturday, American aircraft hit an al-Shabab training camp that the Pentagon said killed about 150 militants.
The group rejected the claim as "American propaganda”, saying the death toll was exaggerated.
"We never gather 100 fighters in one spot for security reasons. We know the sky is full of planes," an al-Shabab spokesman was quoted as saying.
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