Pentagon: US deployed troops in Libya

The Pentagon said a number of US Special Operations troops have been deployed in Libya to provide assistance and advice to the Libyan Government of National Accord’s forces.

Government forces are battling Daesh in the city of Sirte.

“A small number of US forces have gone in and out of Libya to exchange information with local forces, and they will continue to do so as we strengthen the fight against ISIL and other terrorist organisations,” Pentagon spokesman Henrietta Levin told reporters on Tuesday, using another acronym for Daesh.

Levin said the Libyan government has established joint operations rooms away from the front lines to facilitate coordination between the forces fighting the group.

Levin denied any plans to send additional troops to Libya at this stage, similar to what it did in Iraq and Syria, pointing out that her country will provide support to troops fighting under the leadership of the unity government including key information about the fight in Sirte and strikes against Daesh targets.

The Washington Post recently quoted unnamed sources in the Pentagon as saying: “American troops were operating out of a joint operations centre on the city’s outskirts and that their role was limited to supporting forces loyal to the country’s fragile unity government.”