US kills Libyan Islamic State leader in air strike

14 November 2015, 8:25 pm

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The head of the Islamic State group in Libya was killed in an air strike overnight, the Pentagon announces.

Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, was an Iraqi national and an al-Qaeda operative, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook says in a statement.

Cook describes Abu Nabil as the senior IS leader in Libya and says he may also have been the spokesman in a February 2015 video showing the execution of Coptic Christians.

The Pentagon, headquarters of the US Department of Defense (photo credit: CC BY-SA mindfrieze, Flickr) — The Pentagon, headquarters of the US Department of Defense (CC BY-SA mindfrieze, Flickr)

“Nabil’s death will degrade ISIL’s ability to meet the group’s objectives in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya, and planning external attacks on the United States,” Cook says.

–AFP