WASHINGTON _ The U.S. military said Monday it has begun launching airstrikes against Islamic State inside Libya, a further expansion of the campaign to defeat the militant group.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said that U.S. warplanes targeted the militants in a strip of Libya's central coastline near Surt after President Barack Obama authorized the operation.
"These actions and those we have taken previously will help deny ISIL a safe haven in Libya," Cook said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Libya is now the fourth country in which the U.S. military is launching airstrikes against Islamic State militants, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
U.S. officials recently estimated that the Sunni extremist group has up to 6,000 fighters in Libya, twice as many as a year ago. The Libya group is considered Islamic State's largest and most powerful affiliate outside Syria and Iraq.
The decision to launch the strikes came after a request by the newly formed Libyan Government of National Accord. The oil-rich country has faced political chaos and violence since the NATO bombing campaign helped rebels oust and kill longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. It remains beset by armed militias, as well as Islamic State, and until recently had two rival governments.
