US Bombing In Libya May Have Included 2 Serbians In The 49 Casualties
American air offensive on the order of President Barrack Obama pounded an ISIS camp in Libya where foreign jihadist fighters were reportedly shaped up for sophisticated warfare training resulting to at least 49 deaths and 6 injured.
Unconfirmed and sometimes conflicting information also suspected that two Serbian embassy employees might have been unfortunately including among the casualties. The two civilians, namely, communications officer Sladjana Stankovic and driver Jovica Stepic were kidnapped in Sabratha in November last year.
"Our forces watched this training camp for weeks leading up to the operation, and...there were no indications of any civilians present...we, nevertheless, express our deepest condolences...When conducting our operations, the U.S. military goes to extraordinary lengths to limit the risk of civilian casualties, and in our campaign to defeat ISIL we will continue to do so," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said as quoted by CNN.
Post-Gadhafi Libya has now become a failed state as the fragmented political after the dictators unsavory demise led to a multi-sided civil war involving hundreds of armed militia groups each carving its own piece of territory or areas under its own sphere of influence. Under this fragile security environment, ISIS jumped from having slight or modest presence to an increasingly powerful faction jockeying for power.
"This is something that can only flourish in a political and security vacuum. That's why something must be done," remarked UN envoy and German diplomat Martin Kobler as mentioned in a report by the New York Times.
Meanwhile, the weakened Libyan transitional government issued a statement of condemnation against the US airstrike that destroyed an alleged ISIS camp in Sabratha.
"Any interference, similar to the one that has taken place, will be considered an open and flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Libyan state and international law," the statement reads as quoted by RT News.
