According to a report from Business Insider, U.S. officials are now confirming that American special forces were on the ground fighting Islamic State militants in Libya. The missions have not yet been made public, and the U.S. official spoke under the condition of anonymity to The Washington Post.
In the conversation with The Post, it was revealed that U.S. special operators were stationed in the Libyan city of Sirte — ISIS’ stronghold in North Africa. The only specifics known about their mission at this time are that they constructed several small outposts in the area to establish friendly relations with the locals. However, that is hardly the tip of the iceberg.
WaPo also spoke with European Council on Foreign Relations expert Mattia Toaldo, who was asked to asses the overall threat level of the supposed missions. “As long as they keep this low profile … the risks both for the US and for the Libyan government are quite low,” he said in an interview.
The full breakdown can be read on Business Insider’s website below, and the Washington Post story can be seen here.
(h/t Business Insider)
August 10th, 2016