The Killing of ISIS Leader in Libya in US Airstrike

On Saturday, November 13, the US Department of Defense announced that American F-15 jets successfully killed the head of the Libyan branch of the Islamic State (ISIS) in airstrikes in Libya. According to Agence France-Presse, the US Department of Defense stated that in this airstrike, Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaidi, known as Abu Nabil, an Iraqi citizen and head of ISIS in Libya, was killed. Peter Cook, spokesperson for the US Department of Defense, said on Saturday that Abu Nabil is likely the same person who threatened the West as a spokesperson for ISIS in a video showing the beheading of Coptic Christians on the Libyan coast. The mentioned video was released earlier this year, showing a large number of Coptic hostages being killed by ISIS members in black clothing on the shores of Tripoli, Libya. The spokesperson continued, "Although this is not the first US airstrike in Libya, it is the first airstrike against an ISIS leader in that country, and it shows that we target ISIS leaders wherever they are." Peter Cook further explained that "the death of Abu Nabil weakens ISIS's ability to achieve its objectives in Libya, including its capacity to recruit more, establish a base in Libya, and plan attacks against the United States." This airstrike occurred after ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks on Paris on Sunday; however, Peter Cook told reporters that operations against Abu Nabil had begun before the Paris attacks. Libya has faced chaos since the death of Muammar Gaddafi and the overthrow of his regime, and reports from the International Criminal Court indicate that since then, the number of people killed in Libya by ISIS has exceeded the number killed by other hostile groups. In June, US F-15 jets also conducted another airstrike against Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a leader of the Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda in Libya, but there was never sufficient confirmation of his death.