Pentagon: US ready for conducting raids against Daesh in Libya

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the US is ready to launch air strikes against Daesh posts in Libya.

Cook said "We don't make a decision to carry out a military strike lightly," CNN reported on Wednesday.

"We've been willing to take strikes in the past in Libya targeting Daesh leadership," Cook said. "We are prepared to do so again in the future. But this is a situation where the government is still taking shape. It is showing progress. Military forces aligned with the government are showing progress as well, particularly in the fight against Daesh in Sirte."

He said "the most important thing in terms of our policy, and we believe for the region's policy, is for that government to take shape, take hold. And we'd like to, of course be in a position to strengthen it as needed, going forward, along with our partners in the region."

The Pentagon has previously acknowledged small teams of Special Operations Forces on the ground in Libya to establish relationships with local forces battling Daesh.

The US has conducted several airstrikes against Daesh in Libya, including one in February that killed over 40 Daesh operatives, but the US has held off on additional strikes for several months. At the end of March, the recently formed UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord took up residence in Libya's capital, Tripoli.

Militias based out of Misrata and allied to the new government have had some recent success driving Daesh out of territory around its Libyan base in the coastal city of Sirte.

The Director of the CIA, John Brennan, told Congress last week that Daesh had about 5,000-8,000 fighters inside Libya.

Source: MENA