Pentagon: ISIS leader in Libya likely killed in U.S. strike

Al Qaeda and its splinter group the Islamic State control territory and have a deep bench of leaders and operatives who are willing to step in for those killed in the air campaigns.

Reporting suggests he may also have been the spokesman in the February 2015 Coptic Christian execution video. The Pentagon is still analyzing the strike results, but said Nabil’s death was highly probable.

The Pentagon said the strike, carried out on Friday, was authorized and planned before the attacks the same day by gunmen and bombers in Paris that killed 127 people. It was the first time the US has attacked an Islamic State leader outside of Syria or Iraq.

“The first [strike] was successful, but the Reaper stayed on for a secondary strike to ensure that the target was completely hit”, a senior official from the Pentagon said, according to The Wall Street Journal. This report was confirmed by two U.S administration officials.

“Let France and those who walk in its path know that they will remain on the top of the list of targets of the Islamic State”, the terror outfit said in their statement.

The Pentagon did not say Saturday where in Libya Abu Nabil was killed.

Senior militants in Libya appear to have drawn from the experience the group has acquired during its growth across Iraq and Syria, using numerous same propaganda and enforcement measures to attract followers and discipline the local population. He later switched allegiance to the newly formed Islamic State, or IS.

It has launched high-profile attacks in the mostly lawless North African country, and gained a foothold in key towns and cities, including Sirte.

Hours after the blasts and shootings in Paris killed 129 people, a pinpoint strike from the United States in Libya killed ISIS’ leader there, Abu Nabil.