{"id":41718,"date":"2018-03-28T20:56:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T20:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/28\/airstrike-in-libya-kills-high-ranking-al-qaeda-commander\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:43:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:43:41","slug":"airstrike-in-libya-kills-high-ranking-al-qaeda-commander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/28\/airstrike-in-libya-kills-high-ranking-al-qaeda-commander\/","title":{"rendered":"Airstrike in Libya kills high-ranking al-Qaida commander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An airstrike in Ubari, Libya, has killed two al-Qaida<\/a> members, one of whom was Musa Abu Dawud, a high-ranking commander for the terror group, U.S. Africa Command<\/a> announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dawud had been on the U.S. State Department\u2019s Specially Designated Global Terrorist<\/a> list since May 2016. He had been involved in terror activity since the early 1990s, and was a senior member of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb<\/a>, or AQIM<\/a> \u2014 the terror group\u2019s affiliate in Africa\u2019s Sahel and Sahara regions.
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The strike that killed Dawud was conducted on March 24 in coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord, the United Nations-backed interim government there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ubari, where the strike occurred, is situated on a major highway that feeds into Algeria. AFRICOM would not comment on the strike\u2019s closeness to the Algerian border, or what it means for the possibility of future operations in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn relation to Libya, it is fair to say that in coordination with the GNA we have conducted a majority of strikes in the relative area of Sirte,\u201d Air Force Maj. Karl Wiest, an AFRICOM spokesman, told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat said, many of those strikes were executed as part of Operation Odyssey Lightning<\/a>,\u201d Wiest added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, Commander, U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and Amb. Peter Bodde, U.S. Ambassador to Libya are greeted by Libyan miltary officials during their recent visit to meet with the Prime Minister of Libya’s Unity Government, Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, Libya May 23, 2017. This marks the first time a a high ranking U.S. military official has been in Libya since 2014.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Odyssey Lightning was the U.S. military operation to liberate Sirte \u2014 a major Libyan coastal city \u2014 from ISIS. It concluded on Dec. 19, 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That operation \u201csucceeded in its core objective of enabling GNA-aligned forces to drive [ISIS] out of Sirte by conducting 495 precision airstrikes against vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, heavy guns, tanks, command and control centers and fighting positions,\u201d Wiest said.
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