The United States has launched airstrikes against Daesh strongholds in Libya's Sirte city at the request of the Libyan Presidency Council, both Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj and the Pentagon said Monday.
"The Presidency Council decided, in its capacity as the supreme command of the Libyan armed forces, to demand direct US support to conduct targeted airstrikes against the strongholds of the Daesh organization," Sarraj said in a televised speech.
"The first of these airstrikes has already kicked off on specific locations in Sirte, causing severe loses in the ranks of the enemy. This way our ground forces have managed to control important, strategic sites," he added.
Sarraj said that the call for US support came in response to a request from the command of the Bonayan al-Marsous operation that fights Daesh and after consulting the defence minister.
Washington has confirmed the strikes.
According to Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook, the strikes were conducted at the request of the Libyan government and were concentrated on the city of Sirte.
US President Barack Obama approved the strikes. There were no reports on casualties. The US has conducted occasional airstrikes in Libya in recent months.
Libyan pro-government forces started an offensive in May to retake Sirte from Daesh.
Sirte, about 450 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, is strategically important because it links Libya's east and west.
The Mediterranean city has been under Daesh control since last year, becoming the group's biggest bastion outside Syria and Iraq.
Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 revolt that toppled long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi.
Daesh has taken advantage of the chaos to seize territory along the sparsely populated central coast and expand in the oil-rich country.
By Marwa Al-A'sar, Maren Hennemuth and Peter Voskamp
