Airstrikes resume against IS in Libya

CAIRO – 29 May 2017: Libyan sources confirmed Monday that five airstrikes targeted IS training camps and bases in Derna, eastern Libya, between midnight and dawn.

Omar Mukhtar Operations Room, under the leadership of the Libyan armed forces, called for Derna's residents to evacuate the suspicious neighborhoods in the city, which "have become a haven for terrorists … and will be subject to airstrikes."

The airstrikes targeting IS in Libya started Friday morning, when Egypt's armed forces attacked the IS training camps and the main center of the Shura Council for Mujahedin of Derna, which allegedly harbored the terrorist elements who carried the Minya terrorist attacks, killing 30 people and injuring dozens others.

The initial strikes on Derna were held in cooperation with the general command of the Libyan armed forces; and Libyan officials have since then expressed their full support for Egypt's operations and its war against overseas terrorism.

Col. Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan chief of staff said Monday that the Egyptian-Libyan strikes were held within a framework of collaborative work between the two countries, stating that Derna has become a terrorist hot spot to export militants to Egypt.

In a press conference, Mesmari stated that a military operation had been launched to liberate Jufra, in the centre of Libya, announcing that the military cooperation with Egypt will continue in the upcoming period.