US bombs IS targets in Libya after call for help

US planes bombed Islamic State targets in Libya yesterday, responding to the UN-backed government’s request to help push the militants from their former stronghold in the city of Sirte.

“The first air strikes were carried out at specific locations in Sirte today causing severe losses to enemy ranks,” Prime Minster Fayez Seraj said on state TV.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the strikes did not have “an end point at this particular moment in time”.