The United States is prepared to carry out more airstrikes against the self-styled Islamic State terrorists in Sirte if requested by Libya’s UN-backed government, even though the militant group no longer controls much territory there, the Pentagon said on Monday.
Since August, the US has carried out more than 350 airstrikes against IS at the request of the Government of National Accord. However, none has been carried out since Oct. 31, officials said, Reuters reported.
“If additional airstrikes are needed, we will be prepared to deliver those airstrikes,” Pentagon Spokesman Peter Cook said at a news conference.
IS took full control of Sirte, a city of some 80,000 inhabitants, in early 2015. Its loss would leave the militant group without any territorial control in Libya.
Libyan forces have the remaining militants in Sirte surrounded in part of the Ghiza Bahriya neighborhood. US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated that only a few blocks of the city were controlled by a few dozen IS militants.
