by Mahmoud Darwesh
TRIPOLI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The recent airstrikes carried out by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) against Islamic State (IS) militants in southern Libya revealed the ability and danger of IS remnants in the area, experts said.
Faraj al-Tikbali, a Libyan political analyst, said that the U.S. airstrikes revealed strong presence of IS militants in southern Libya, who use the area as a safe haven and move freely, taking advantage of the current fighting between the east-based army and the UN-backed government in the capital Tripoli.
"U.S. aircraft carried out intense strikes in a week, killing dozens of members of the organization, including prominent leaders," al-Tikbali told Xinhua.
"This shows that the organization did not die but remains hidden to assemble its forces and choose its movements accurately for fear of being targeted, especially as southern Libya is a vast and exposed desert, in which hiding and navigating need great efforts," the analyst added.
Over the past week, AFRICOM announced launching airstrikes in southern Libya, in coordination with the UN-backed government, killing a number of terrorists.
"Our pursuit of IS-Libya and other terrorist networks degrades their ability to effectively conduct operations against the Libyan people," said William Gayler, AFRICOM's director of operations.
"By disrupting the terrorists' planning, training, and activities, we also degrade their capacity to threaten the U.S. and its partner's interests in the region," Gayler said.
The UN-backed government confirmed that the pursuit of IS militants continues, stressing that the strikes were "a part of the campaign targeting the terrorist organization in Libya."
Farhat al-Badri, a Libyan researcher on terrorist groups, said that the strikes killed two senior leaders of IS, an important step to weaken the group's efforts to reassemble its forces.
"According to confirmed information and assessment of the airstrike that was carried out two days ago, in which 17 IS militants were killed, two of the organization's leaders, Mahmoud al-Burasi and Malik al-Khazmi, were killed," al-Badri revealed.
Local and international arrest warrants had been issued against the two, al-Badri said.
Al-Burasi, the IS leader in the Sahara, fled during the battles against the Libyan government of national accord in Sirte city, during which IS was defeated nearly three years ago, he added.
But since then, IS remnants started moving in small groups, taking advantage of the rugged uninhabited valleys, the researcher said.
The coastal city of Sirte, located some 450 km east of Tripoli, had witnessed months of fighting between forces allied with the UN-backed government and the IS militants, which ended in December 2016 with the government forces taking over the city.
Al-Badri said that the increased U.S. airstrikes against IS militants recently reflect the danger of the organization's remnants, and the possibility of IS regrouping to launch unexpected attacks in different parts of Libya.
