ISISU.S. to fly armed drone attacks from a base in Sicily against ISIS in Libya

Predator drone firing Hellfire missile // Source: commmons.wikimedia.org

Italy said it would allow armed U.S. drones to be based in an American base in Sicily so they would be within to launch attacks against ISIS militants in Libya and other northern Africa countries.

The New York Times reports that the agreement was reached after years of negotiations, and against the backdrop of intensified ISIS activity in Libya and other African countries.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the ness on Monday.

The agreement was reached in January.

The Times notes that the Italians have not given the United States a blank check, but rather require of the United States to secure permission from the Italian authorities government before each strike. In addition, the drone strokes must be limited to missions aimed to protect U.S. Special Forces on the ground when these forces engage ISIS jihadists.

The WSJ notes that Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, has ruled out Italy’s direct participation in any operations against Libya, and also insisted that U.S. armed-drone operations would be limited to force-protection missions only.

The Italian prime minister said that there would be strong domestic opposition to offensive operations which resulted in civilian deaths.

ISIS has designated Libya as its back-up base of operations, after sustained U.S. air strikes and advances by Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Libya have diminished the area under the organization’s control by about 25 percent.

U.S. intelligence also said that battle death and desertions have reduced the number of ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria by about 20 percent – from about 30,000 to about 25,000.

Recently, ISIS leaders have called on their followers in Africa not to travel to Syria – but instead go to Libya to join ISIS forces there. The United States estimates that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 ISIS militants in Libya, and the numbers are growing.

The United States has sent Special Forces to operate on the ground in Libya, and the United States, Britain, and France have launched airstrikes against ISIS training facilities and arms depots.

The British defense secretary, Michael Fallon, confirmed that last week’s U.S. strike against an ISIS training camp was launched from a British base. It was the third by the US in Libya since June.

“I welcome this strike that has taken out a Daesh [ISIS] training camp being used to train terrorists to carry out attacks,” he said. “I was satisfied that its destruction makes us all safer, and I personally authorized the US use of our bases,” Fallon said.

The U.S. air strike killed dozens of ISIS fighters, and may have also killed a senior ISIS operative who was responsible for two deadly attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year.

The attack also killed two Serbian embassy staffers who were kidnapped by ISIS and held at the facility which was destroyed in the attack.