A US air strike hit a house in southern Libya on Saturday where jihadist "leaders" were meeting, killing two of them, the spokesman of the Libyan prime minister said.

Spokesman Mohamed El Sallak, in a statement on his Twitter account, said the strike was "coordinated" with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

The raid targeted "a meeting of terrorist leaders" in a house in the Ubari region, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) south of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, said Sallak.

He later told AFP he was not immediately able to identify the jihadists targeted in the air strike.

The United State has carried out frequent raids on the Islamic State group in southern Libya.

Libya has been gripped by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations and multiple militias vying for control of the oil-rich country.

Jihadists and people-traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos to gain a foothold in the North African country.

IS seized Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte in June 2015 but were driven out of the coastal town in December the following year by pro-GNA forces with US air cover.

The jihadists are still active, however, in central and southern Libya.

IS has claimed several attacks in Libya, the latest in February when a suicide car bombing against the forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar killed three militiamen.

Haftar supports an administration in the east of the country, opposed to the Tripoli-based government of Serraj, who has struggled to assert his authority across the country.

Chad soldier, 20 Boko Haram fighters killed in clash: army source
N'Djamena (AFP) March 24, 2018 - A Chadian soldier and 20 Boko Haram members were killed in a clash in the restive Lake Chad region near Nigeria, a Chadian military officer told AFP Saturday.

The incident occurred on Friday on an islet named Tchoukou Hadje, the officer said, adding that five soldiers were wounded.

"Twenty Boko Haram members were killed and a large amount of weapons was recovered," he said. "The Chadian army lost one member."

Two Chadian soldiers including a captain were killed in an ambush in the area a month ago in the first attack by the Nigerian jihadist group on Chadian soil since May last year in which nine soldiers died.

Boko Haram, a militant movement opposed to Western influence and seeking an Islamic state based on Sharia law, has caused the deaths of at least 20,000 people since it took up arms in 2009 in Nigeria.

Neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger have all joined the military effort by Nigeria to crush Boko Haram.

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Tweet

Gulf of Mexico oil and gas auction draws modest interest
Washington (UPI) Mar 22, 2018
The largest auction for drilling off the U.S. coast brought in only modest interest as sector players remain cautious about market recovery, analysts said. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management steered an auction Wednesday from New Orleans for 77 million acres of deep- and shallow-water tracts in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The largest lease sale in U.S. history, the auction was part of an effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to ensure the country is a global superpower when it comes to ener ... read more