Egypt Carries out New Airstrikes in Libya

Witnesses in Derna said that at least three airstrikes hit the city. One of the attacks targeted the western entrance to the city and two others hit Dahr al-Hamar, an area in the south of the city.

The Egyptian military spokesman declined to comment on the airstrikes, but the spokesman for the Libyan National Army, a faction in eastern Libya allied to Egypt, has confirmed the bombardment.

The airstrikes were “joint strikes between the Libyan National Army and Egyptian army," a Libyan National Army spokesman, said.

Libyan operational commander Brigadier Abdulsalam Al-Hasi said that the strikes targeted al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Libya, both Majlis Mujahideen Derna and Abu Salim Brigade.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who was meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Cairo on Monday, said that Egypt had hit terrorist bases in Libya “to get rid of them and to limit their ability to threaten Egypt's national security.”

During the joint press conference, he said that the Egyptian authorities were looking forward to "Russia utilizing all of its available capabilities to work together to get rid of terrorism."

Lavrov, for his part, expressed Russia’s condolences over the attack on Coptic Christians, saying that “we must fight this evil (terrorism) together.”

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that his organization was not commenting on the situation, but he added he personally understood Egypt’s reaction to the terrorist attack.

When asked whether he justified Egypt’s airstrikes, he said, “Very much so.”

Egyptian warplanes attacked targets in eastern Libya on Friday and Saturday in retaliation for the massacre of Coptic Christians in Egypt earlier when a convoy of vehicles was stopped near Minya by armed men who then gunned down 29 people and left 24 injured. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Egyptian military said its airstrikes on Friday targeted training camps, arms depots and militant leaders responsible for the attack.

Al Arabiya reports that the Egyptian airstrikes targeted the Mujahideen Shura Council in Derna (MSCD), an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group that rivals local Islamists pledging allegiance to Daesh. MSCD earlier released a statement denying involvement in the Minya attack, and accused the Egyptian government of using the incident to draw public attention away from its failures.

Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar announced that the Egyptian airstrikes in Derna were coordinated with them. 

Last year, he refused to support the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and remains one of the strongest political figures in Libya.

The country has been fractured since the 2011 NATO regime change bombing campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi. It has since been plagued by clashes between rival gangs, economic hardships, and an inflow of refugees from the Middle East and other parts of Africa, who use Libya as a transit point in their attempts to reach Italy.