Pentagon targeted top ISIS leader in Libya airstrike

The U.S. military has conducted an airstrike in Libya against a “longtime al Qaeda operative” and the senior Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leader in Libya, it announced Saturday.

“On November 13, the U.S. military conducted an airstrike in Libya against Abu Nabil, aka Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, an Iraqi national who was a longtime al Qaeda operative and the senior ISIL leader in Libya,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.  

{mosads}Cook did not say whether Nabil’s was confirmed.

“While not the first U.S. strike against terrorists in Libya, this is the first U.S. strike against an ISIL leader in Libya and it demonstrates we will go after ISIL leaders wherever they operate,” Cook said, using a different acronym for ISIS.

The announcement comes a day after terrorist attacks across Paris killed at least 120. Cook noted that the operation was authorized and initiated prior to the attacks. 

When U.S. airstrikes target “high value individuals,” the Pentagon often withholds announcements until the target is confirmed to be killed. 

However, the announcement’s timing could be an attempt to hit back against propaganda by ISIS terrorists over the Paris attacks. 

“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 said. 

Cook said reporting suggests Nabil may also have been the spokesman in the February Coptic Christian execution video. 

The targeting of Nabil comes just several days after the Pentagon confirmed targeting another ISIS figure — “Jihadi John,” the Briton featured in ISIS videos with slain hostages from the U.S., and other nations. 

The Pentagon said Friday that an average of one mid- to upper-level ISIS leader has been killed every two days since May.