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Barack Obama chose to make the final military act of his presidency an order for air strikes on ISIL in Libya this week, a country where he declared last year he had made the "greatest mistake" of his presidency.

From late on Wednesday night until the early hours of Thursday, two B2 bombers pounded two ISIL bases 48 kilometres south-west of the coastal town of Sirte.

For the past two years, US jets have carried out precision raids against both ISIL and Al Qaeda across Libya. By contrast, the use of B2s, each of which can carry 80 bombs, was a blitz intended to pulverise the two camps.

US officials told the Wall Street Journal that intelligence had been monitoring ISIL units for several days as they moved and made camp in Libyas desert.

The strikes on ISIL close to Sirte came less than a month after the US halted a four-month bombing campaign against the extremists in the town, which had been ISILs Libya headquarters. The Pentagon said the campaign, which began on August 1, saw US Harrier jets, attack helicopters and drones fly 495 strike missions to support ground forces allied to Libyas UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in capturing Sirte.

When the town finally fell on December 6, there was speculation that many ISIL fighters, estimated by the Pentagon last year to number 6,000 across Libya had managed to flee during the battle.

For the latest strikes, the US deployed its most expensive and sophisticated warplane, the B2 bomber. A pair of the jets flew the mission from their base in Missouri, a 30-hour round trip involving five mid-air refuellings. Backing them up, but unused, were Tomahawk cruise missiles aboard the destroyers USS Donald Cook and USS Porter in the Mediterranean.

The advanced radar-shielding technology of the B2 was not needed for a strike on ISIL, whose fighters would probably not have heard them in the night sky until the bombs rained down. But their bomb capacity is far higher than Americas Europe-based jets, allowing both camps to be flattened simultaneously. The Pentagon said the camps were hit with 108 precision-guided bombs in an operation conducted in coordination with the GNA.

In the US determination to wipe out, rather than damage, the ISIL units, at least one drone spent the rest of the night targeting stragglers with Hellfire missiles.

US defence secretary Ash Carter said a full analysis of the strikes would take time, but US officials estimated at least 85 fighters were killed.

"We need to strike ISIL everywhere they show up," said Mr Carter. "And thats particularly true in view of the fact that we know some of the ISIL operatives in Libya were involved with plotting attacks."

The bombing is a reminder of Mr Obamas declaration last April that a failure to follow up air strikes in support of rebels battling Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 was the "greatest mistake" of his presidency.

In the chaotic aftermath of Libyas revolution that year, the country slid into civil war, a complicated struggle that involves two governments at opposite ends of the country and a mosaic of warring militias.

ISIL took advantage of this chaos to set up bases across Libya. It has failed to recruit many Libyans in a country dominated by tribal and regional loyalties, but has gathered foreign fighters.

While the US continues to scan the desert for signs of ISIL survivors, other ISIL fighters are battling the Libya National Army of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, the countrys most powered armed formation, in the eastern town of Benghazi.

The US has given no publicly acknowledged aid to the field marshalls forces, which are aligned with the house of representatives parliament operating in eastern Libya. However, Americas Nato ally, France has had no compunction in revealing last summer that it was providing expertise to the Libyans following the death of three operatives from its elite Department General Security Exterior intelligence service in a helicopter crash near Benghazi.

Like Mr Obama before him, incoming president Donald Trump will learn that air strikes provide no definitive solution to eradicating ISIL from Libya.

Only a political settlement to end the countrys civil war, allowing a united army to turn its guns on the extremists, can achieve that. Time will tell whether the new US administration can succeed better than its predecessor in encouraging the countrys factions to come together.

foreign.desk@thenational.ae

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US bombs ISIL in Libya in Obama's last stand - The National

January 21, 2017 Johannesburg, South AfricaAs Donald Trump takes office, Chads recent decision to close its northern border with Libya in order to avoid imminent terrorism danger is unlikely to register high on his list of priorities.

But experts say the country a longtime US ally in the war on terror, whose territory stretches along the Saharan fault-line of Islamist terrorism in Africa may be using its foreign policy to maneuver quietly toward the new American president.

And with good reason. New statistics obtained by The Intercept show that over the past decade, the United States has dramatically increased its high level military presence in Africa to counter a rising tide of Islamist extremism in the region.

Meanwhile, countries that support the growing US counter-terrorism efforts on the continent think Chad, Uganda, Ethiopia, Niger have frequently evaded criticism over their own spotty human rights records and their leaders white-knuckled grip on power (Chads Idriss Dby, who is regularly feted by high-level American visitors, including former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, has ruled for 27 years).

Chads border machinations began Jan. 6, when Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke announced that the country had closed the frontier with Libya to stopan influx of Islamist militants fleeing south from a US airstrike campaignthat started in August and ended in November of last year.

Given the threats to the integrity of our nation, the government has decided to close the land border with Libya and also to declare the region a military zone, he said.

However, many observers noted that the timing of the border closure appeared politically expedient.

The final battle for Sirte [an ISIS stronghold in Libya] was 10 weeks ago, and as early as July there has been mass movement of IS fighters, so the suggestion you are closing your border [now] because of it is disingenuous, says Ryan Cummings, director of the South Africa-based risk management firm Signal Risk. He added that he suspected the announcement might have more to do with a desire by African partners to impress the new crowd in Washington rather than because of any pressing security threat in Chad.

However," he continues, "the threat of IS fighters leaving Libya is absolutely legitimate because there are IS affiliates in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, and Niger that have not been as active, and the concern is, if IS combatants go into those neighboring countries to prop up the existing groups, you then very suddenly have highly trained, battle-hardened militants operating across the Maghreb.

The threat of Islamist terrorism creeping southward through Chad into sub-Saharan Africa is of growing concern to both the African Union and United States which Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn has said is in a world war against Islamic militants. In December, AU security chief Smail Chergui warned that 2,000 to 2,500 Islamic State terrorists were regrouping with a view to relocating to the troubled regions of the western Sahel and eastern Horn of Africa and Great Lakes after the fall of their base in Sirte, on Libya's Mediterranean coast.

He added that because some IS elements were of African origin, the continent was more vulnerable to their influence and operations. Home-grown terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria have already pledged allegiance to IS along with a splinter faction of Al Shabab in Somalia, which last April claimed direct responsibility for an attack on the capital, Mogadishu.

The threat in Africa is also far from limited to IS. West Africa is also plagued by several Al Qaeda affiliates, and as far south as South Africa there have been terror warnings, including one that an Islamic State bomb-maker tried to board a flight to Johannesburg last month with a view to attacking US assets.

Meanwhile, the US has been quietly establishing what has been described a "new spice route" of military logistical infrastructure and increased personnel counts from Africa's east coast to its west. Figuresobtained byUS investigative journalist Nick Turserevealed that the US militarys Africa Command (AFRICOM) carried out 674operations including drone strikes, individual and joint exercises, and activities such as training,in 2014 up from 172 in 2008. A total of70 percent ofall USdrone strikes ever carried out in Somalia occurred in 2015 and 2016,according to statistics compiled by the US Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

And figures obtained by Mr. Turse and published in The Intercept show that the number of US special forces troops deployed to Africa has spiraled dramatically over the past decade, from just 1 percent of all those overseas in 2006to 17.26 percent in 2016.

At the same time, a US official based in Africa says that while the numbers of personnel remained in the hundreds outside of the main base in Djibouti, AFRICOM had been given a mandate to be more proactive in the continents hotspots.

There has been a ramping up, there are some very serious security questions,says the official, who remained anonymous because of the question marks regarding all US operations overseas with the change of government this week. We do have some good partners that we can engage with.

Among them, historically, has been Chad.In a visit last year with Mr. Dby, US officials warned of growing cooperation between Boko Haram and IS, which, an official claimed, had sent a weapons convoy south from Libya into Chad. That, in turn, may have compelled the border closure this January.

But the Trump Administrations goals in sub-Saharan Africa remains murky. Last week, The New York Timespublished excerpts from a questionnaire circulated by the Trump transition team to the State Department about US Africa policy.

The questionnaire revealed Trump staffquestioning the effectiveness of the US drone campaign against Al Shabab and the hunt for the Lords Resistance Army commander Joseph Kony on the borders of Uganda, the Democratic Republic, and South Sudan, along with free trade deals and funding to combat the spread of AIDS.

Many analysts saw the questions as pointing to a narrowing of American focus on the continent away from aid and toward security. But any escalation of US military presence in Africa under Trump will be largely a continuation of Obama-era policy.

Late last year, for instance,the commander of the US special operations command in Africa told African Defensethat his troops were helping to create "specific tailored training for partner nations to empower military and law enforcement to conduct operations against our mutual threats."

We are not at war in Africa but our African partners certainly are," Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc said.

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Why Chad shut its border with Libya - CSMonitor.com - Christian Science Monitor

U.S. officials confirm that two Air Force stealth B-2 bombers struck two ISIS camps in Libya 28 miles south of Sirte on Wednesday night. One official called the airstrikes "a huge success," with more than 80 ISIS fighters killed.

The airstrikes targeted 80 to 100 ISIS fighters in multiple camps south of the coastal city of Sirte, which was once an ISIS stronghold, an official told ABC News. The B-2 bombers dropped more than 100 munitions on the two camps.

"In conjunction with the Libyan government of national accord, the U.S. military conducted precision airstrikes Wednesday night destroying two ISIL camps 45 kilometers southwest of Sirte," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement, using another acronym for the group.

He said the ISIS fighters had fled to the remote desert camps "in order to reorganize, and they posed a security threat to Libya, the region and U.S. national interests."

The airstrikes were authorized by President Obama and are considered an extension of Operation Odyssey Lightning, the U.S. campaign that carried out almost 500 airstrikes against ISIS in Libya last fall.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters at a Pentagon briefing that more than 80 ISIS fighters were killed in the airstrikes. In addition to those who fled Sirte he said there were also individuals at the camps the U.S. believed were actively involved in planning attacks in Europe or were involved in previous attacks.

"We need to strike ISIL everywhere they show up" said Carter.

The ISIS operation in Libya has been a major concern for U.S. officials, who have worried it could become another ISIS safe haven as the group faces growing military pressure in Iraq and Syria. U.S. officials have said the number of ISIS fighters in Libya likely totals 1,000.

"The United States remains prepared to further support Libyan efforts to counter terrorist threats and to defeat ISIL in Libya," said Cook. "We are committed to maintaining pressure on ISIL and preventing them from establishing safe haven."

The airstrikes were the first time B-2 stealth bombers have been used in combat since March 2011, when they were used in the first wave of strikes in Libya during the NATO-led military intervention there.

In early December, ISIS was defeated in Sirte by local Libyan militias that surrounded the city over the summer.

During the siege, U.S. officials estimated that hundreds of ISIS fighters fled Sirte to establish themselves elsewhere in the country.

The B-2's flew a 30-hour round trip mission from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri where the Air Force's fleet of 20 B-2 "Spirits" are based.

As for why the B-2 bomber was used for the mission Carter said "it was a decision made by the commanders. It was the best capability to use."

Cook explained to reporters that a benefit in using the B-2 for the airstrikes was its ability to loiter in the area after the strike.

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B-2 Bombers Strike ISIS Camps in Libya - KTRK-TV

BENGHAZI/WASHINGTON: A car bomb exploded on Friday near a mosque in Libyas second city of Benghazi, killing one person and wounding 13 people including a former interior minister, medical and security sources said. Ashour Shwayel, who served as interior minister in the government of former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, and his son were seriously hurt in the blast, said the spokeswoman of Al-Jala hospital, Fadia Al-Barghati. A security source said the blast was caused by an explosive device placed inside a car parked near Abu Houraira mosque in the central Al-Majouri neighborhood of the eastern coastal city. Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 revolution that toppled and killed veteran dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Libya has since fallen into chaos, with the UN-backed Government of National Accord based in Tripoli failing to assert its authority over the country. The GNA is opposed by a rival administration that is based in Libyas far east and backed by military strongman Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are battling militants in Benghazi. The powerful explosion outside the mosque after Friday prayers wrecked a number of cars and charred nearby buildings. The attack came as Haftars self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) appears close to forcing Islamist-led opponents from their last holdouts after a military campaign that began in 2014. It was not clear who staged Fridays bombing, but the LNAs rivals have carried out such attacks in Benghazi in the past. In November, a similar blast wounded a prominent tribal leader who had helped the LNA negotiate the takeover of several major oil ports. Shuwail, who served as police chief in Benghazi after Libyas 2011 uprising, was interior minister between 2012 and 2013. Meanwhile, a US airstrike on Thursday targeting an Al-Qaeda training camp in Syria killed more than 100 militants, a US defense official said on Friday. The strike took place just a day before the end of President Barack Obamas presidency and a day after more than 80 Daesh militants were killed in US airstrikes in Libya. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the airstrike was primarily carried out by a B-52 bomber and dropped 14 munitions. The official added that the strike against the camp took place in Idlib province, west of Aleppo, and there was a high level of confidence that there were no civilian casualties. A US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes and supporting local forces in Syria to oust Daesh militants. However, there is concern that the defeat of Daesh could open the door for Al-Qaeda to take territory in ungoverned parts of the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday that an airstrike killed more than 40 members of the militant group Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham in northwestern Syria. It was not immediately clear if this strike was the same one the defense official was referring to.

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Car bomb wounds minister among 13 in Libya's Benghazi - Arab News

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

B-2 Spirit bomber The four-engine B-2 heavy bomber has stealth properties that make it hard to detect on radar. Flown by a crew of two, it has an unrefueled range of 6,000 miles and can deliver both conventional and nuclear bombs. Twenty B-2s are in the active inventory. They joined the fleet in 1997.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

F-35A Lightning The single-engine F-35A is the Air Force's eventual replacement for the F-16 and the A-10. The supersonic jets, which will be able to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks, are just beginning to enter the Air Force fleet.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

F-22 Raptor The twin-engine F-22 stealth fighter, flown by a single pilot and armed with a 20mm cannon, heat-seeking missiles, radar-guided missiles and radar-guided bombs, can perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The service has 183 of the Raptors, which went operational in 2005.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

B-1B Lancer bomber The four-engine jet can fly at 900 mph and carry the largest payload of bombs and missiles in the Air Force inventory. The Air Force has 62 B-1Bs in the fleet.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

B-52 Stratofortress The first versions of this long-range heavy bomber flew in 1954. A total of 744 were built, the last of those in 1962. The Air Force maintains 58 B-52s in the active force and 18 in the Reserve. A single B-52 can carry 70,000 pounds of mixed munitions, including bombs, missiles and mines. The eight-engine jets have a range of 8,800 miles.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

F-15 Eagle The F-15 Eagle, the Air Force's main air superiority fighter, became operational in 1975. With a crew of one or two, depending on the model, the twin-engine jets are armed with a 20mm cannon along with Sidewinder or AMRAAM missiles. The Air Force lists 249 F-15 Eagles in its inventory.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

A-10 Thunderbolt The A-10 Thunderbolt jets, nicknamed "Warthogs," are specially designed for close air support of ground forces. Key to their armaments is a 30mm Gatling gun. The pilot is protected from ground fire by titanium armor, and the plane's fuel cells are self-sealing in case of puncture.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

RC-135U The RC-135U Combat Sent, based at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, provides strategic electronic reconnaissance information to the president, secretary of defense, Department of Defense leaders and theater commanders.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

An F-15 Eagle takes off from the Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, flight line as two E-3 Sentries are seen in the background.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

C-130 Hercules transport A C-130J Super Hercules from the 37th Airlift Squadron flies over Normandy, France, June 3, 2015. First delivered to the Air Force in 1956, the C-130 remains one of the service's most important airlift platforms. More than 140 are still in active units, with more than 180 in the National Guard and a hundred more in the Reserve. The C-130 is powered by four turboprop engines.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

OV-10 Bronco A 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron OV-10 Bronco aircraft fires white phosphorus rockets to mark a target for an air strike during tactical air control training.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

A-29 Super Tucano An A-29 Super Tucano taxis on the flightline during its first arrival, Sept. 26, 2014, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. Afghan Air Force pilots trained on the planes that will be used in air-to-ground attack missions in Afghanistan.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

KC-135 Stratotanker The four-engine KC-135 joined the Air Force fleet in 1956 as both a tanker and cargo jet. It can carry up to 200,000 pounds of fuel and 83,000 pounds of cargo and passengers in a deck above the refueling system. More than 400 of the KC-135s are flown by active, Air Guard and Reserve units.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

F-16 Fighting Falcon The single-engine jet is a mainstay of the Air Force combat fleet. It can perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions with its 20mm cannon and ability to carry missiles and bombs on external pods. More than 1,000 F-16s are in the Air Force inventory.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

AC-130 gunships The AC-130H Spectre and the AC-130U Spooky gunships are designed for close air support, air interdiction and force protection. Armaments on the Spectre include 40mm and 105mm cannons. The Spooky adds a 25mm Gatling gun.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

C-17 Globemaster transport The four-engine jet joined the Air Force fleet in 1993 with a primary mission of troop and cargo transport. Each plane can carry up to 102 troops or 170,900 pounds of cargo. The Air Force has 187 C-17s on active duty, 12 in the Air National Guard and 14 in the Reserve.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

C-5 Galaxy transport The C-5, with a wingspan of 222 feet, a length of 247 feet and a height of 65 feet, is the largest plane in the Air Force inventory and one of the largest aircraft in the world. The first versions of the four-engine jet joined the force in 1970. The Air Force expects to have 52 versions of the latest model, the C-5M, in the fleet by 2017.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

CV-22 Osprey The Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that combines vertical takeoff, hover and landing qualities of a helicopter with the normal flight characteristics of a turboprop aircraft, according to the Air Force. It is used to move troops in and out of operations as well as resupply units in the field. The Air Force has 33 Ospreys in inventory.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

E-3 Sentry AWACS AWACS stands for airborne warning and control system. This four-engine jet, based on a Boeing 707 platform, monitors and manages battle space with its huge rotating radar dome. The planes have a flight crew of four supporting 13 to 19 specialists and controllers giving direction to units around the battle space. The Air Force has 32 E-3s in inventory.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

F-15E Strike Eagle The Strike Eagle is a version of the air superiority fighter adapted to perform ground-strike missions. With a crew of two, the twin-jet can carry and deploy most weapons in the Air Force inventory and operate in any weather. The F-15E was first delivered in 1988. The Air Force lists 219 in its fleet.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

KC-10 Extender Based on the DC-10 passenger jet, the triple-engine KC-10 is a gas station in the sky with the ability to carry 75 people and 170,000 pounds of cargo. In its six tanks, the KC-10 can carry up to 356,000 pounds of fuel and dispense it while airborne. The Air Force has 59 KC-10s on active duty.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

T-38 Talon The twin-engine jet trainer, used by the Air Force to prepare pilots for the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15C Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt and F-22 Raptor, first flew in 1959. Almost 550 are in the active force.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

U-2 The single-engine, single-pilot U-2 is used for high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance. Flying at altitudes around 70,000 feet, pilots must wear pressure suits like those worn by astronauts. The first U-2 was flown in 1955. The planes were used on missions over the Soviet Union during the Cold War, flying too high to be reached by any adversary. The Air Force has 33 U-2s in its active inventory.

In the U.S. Air Force fleet

WC-135 Constant Phoenix The four-engine WC-135 is used to fly through airspace to detect the residue of nuclear blasts. "The aircraft is equipped with external flow-through devices to collect particulates on filter paper and a compressor system for whole air samples collected in holding spheres," the Air Force says. It has two of these jets in the active force.

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Libya: US bombs ISIS camps, dozens killed - CNNPolitics.com