{Previously denied reports of American troops on the ground in Libya have finally been confirmed by the Pentagon. The military admitted a \u201csmall number\u201d of US forces in of Libya to support the local ones after launching airstrikes on ISIS targets
\nA \u201csmall number of US forces have gone in and out of Libya to exchange information with these local forces in established joint operations centers, and they will continue to do so as we strengthen the fight against [Islamic State] and other terrorist organizations,\u201d The Hill quoted Deputy Defense Press Secretary Gordon Trowbridge as saying on Wednesday.}<\/p>\n
Trowbridge explained that the ground troops entering Libya use joint operations rooms, which are away from the front line. The American soldiers help with the coordination between Libyan troops fighting Islamic State.<\/p>\n
Trowbridge specified that American troops are providing \u201cunique capabilities,\u201d including \u201cintelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and precision strikes \u2014 that will help enable GNA-aligned forces to make a decisive, strategic advance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The revelation comes after the Pentagon said on August 1 that it was expanding its airstrikes against Islamic State into Libyan territory around Sirte, where the extremist group got its stronghold.<\/p>\n
During the announcement, US made no reference to ground troops.<\/p>\n
In fact, Trowbridge\u2019s confirmation comes only after The Washington Post brought to light on Tuesday reports that the US was \u201cproviding direct, on-the-ground support for the first time to fighters battling\u201d Islamic State in Libya. <\/p>\n
Trowbridge still denied reports from The Washington Post that the soldiers are fighting. \u201cThey [soldiers] are not on the front lines, nor are they on the ground in Sirte.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since August 1, America has already carried out 29 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Libya , according to US Africa Command. <\/p>\n
Locals have been criticizing the US move to have ground troops in Libya, adding that it is very unlikely that it will make a significant difference.<\/p>\n
The Tripoli Post said: \u201cObservers in and outside Libya remain pessimistic as to the American direct military intervention in Libya which they believe will only deepen instability and brings more violence to the country. They cite the ongoing destruction, killing and instability that foreign intervention has brought to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation in Libya remains very complex five years after the West\u2019s intervention toppled the country\u2019s then leader Muammar Gaddafi.<\/p>\n
Since then Libya has been plagued with sectarian division, with parts of it becoming stronghold for the Islamic State. The Libyan government, recognized by the United Nations, controls only a portion of the country.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton\u2019s running mate, Tim Kaine, has said he doesn\u2019t think the US has the legal authority to bomb the Islamic State in Libya without Congressional authorization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{Previously denied reports of American troops on the ground in Libya have finally been confirmed by the Pentagon. The military admitted a \u201csmall number\u201d of US forces in of Libya to support the local ones after launching airstrikes on ISIS targets A \u201csmall number of US forces have gone in and out of Libya to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[2515],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-27658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-rt"],"bylines":[{"id":2515,"name":"RT","slug":"rt","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2515,"name":"RT","slug":"rt","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27658\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27658"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=27658"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=27658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}