MAHMUD TURKIA
U.S. officials said American warplanes hit an ISIS camp in Libya on Friday. The airstrike reportedly targeted Tunisian operative Noureddine Chouchane, who is thought to be the mastermind behind last year’s Bardo Museum and Sousse beach resort terror attacks in Tunisia. More than 30 ISIS recruits were killed in the strike, a U.S. official said. Authorities are still working to determine if Chouchane was killed in the operation. An official cautioned that the action did not symbolize the start of a new American war in the country. Still, President Obama said at a news conference this week, “With respect to Libya, I have been clear from the outset that we will go after ISIS wherever it appears, the same way that we went after al Qaeda wherever they appeared.” The airstrike follows a Daily Beast report Thursday in which a U.S. defense official warned of occasional strikes on “high-value leaders” in Libya, rather than a direct assault on the city of Sirte, where more than 5,000 ISIS fighters are reported to have gathered.