ISIS Leader in Libya Is Targeted in U.S. Airstrike

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/middleeast/libya-isis-leader-abu-nabil.html

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WASHINGTON — The United States has broadened its fight against the Islamic State, targeting the group’s senior leader in Libya on Friday night, the Pentagon announced on Saturday.

The airstrike against the Islamic State commander took place shortly after the attacks in Paris began, but had been in the works for several days and was not related to the events in France, American officials said. Western officials have been warning for months about a growing threat from militants in Libya aligned with the Islamic State.

The strike in the town of Darnah in eastern Libya was aimed at Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi. He is an Iraqi national who led Qaeda operations in western Iraq, along the corridor between Falluja and Ramadi, from 2004 until 2010. He later moved to eastern Libya to lead Islamic State operations there, the officials said.

Pentagon officials said they believed the strike had killed Abu Nabil, though it would take a few days to confirm that.

The strike, which was carried out by F-15E attack planes based in Britain and was first reported by The Daily Beast, is the first time the United States has targeted a senior Islamic State operative outside of Iraq or Syria.

“Nabil’s death will degrade ISIL’s ability to meet the group’s objectives in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and planning external attacks on the United States,” Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement, using an acronym for the militant group.