A man suspected to be the Islamic State's country head and a long time al-Qaeda operative was killed in an airstrike led by the United States, the Pentagon announced on Saturday. Pentagon press secretary said the death of Abu Nabil, aka Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, will "degrade Islamic State's ability to meet the group’s objectives in Libya". This was the first airstrike by the United States in Libya since June 2014, and the country has said it would go after IS leaders "wherever they operate”.

Although the news came in hours after the suicide bombings and shootings in Paris that left 129 dead, Cook said the operation was authorised and initiated before these attacks. Washington has expressed concern that Libya has become a “third front” for the terror group through their efforts to smuggle oil to raise finance. Four years after the overthrow of the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya exists in a state of chaos. IS presence has steadily grown and its control over areas has risen.