US warplanes strike IS facility in Libya

U.S. warplanes on Friday bombed an Islamic State camp in Libya, targeting a militant linked to two terror attacks in Tunisia past year, a U.S. Defense official confirmed to USA TODAY.

A Western official told the New York Times that U.S. jets had targeted a senior Tunisian operative who was suspected of links to two deadly attacks in the country past year. The airstrike on the base in Sabratha, west of Tripoli, was carried out by F-15s.

Together, those attacks killed more than 50 people, a lot of them foreign tourists.

It was not immediately clear if Chouchane was among those killed or wounded.

That followed an attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis in March that killed 21 tourists and a policeman.

President Barack Obama warned earlier this week that the US could strike in Libya.

While the campaign has seen some successes in Iraq and Syria, IS extremists have expanded their presence in Libya and established a stronghold in the Mediterranean coastal town of Sirte. The Libyan officials spoke on condition of anonymity recently with The Associated Press on this matter because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Additional intelligence would help refine targets for any sort of military strikes, but surveillance drones are in high demand elsewhere, including in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Still, it is significant that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi exerts more control over the ISIS branch in Libya than any other, according to the United Nations report.