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IS camp in Libya attacked by US planes

14US warplanes have carried out attacks on militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Libya, killing at least 30 people.

The strikes hit an IS training camp and “likely” killed a senior Tunisian extremist leader, US officials said.

Noureddine Chouchane is linked to two attacks in Tunisia last year, including an attack that killed 30 Britons.

The IS group has operated in Libya for about a year and the US estimates it has up to 6,000 fighters there.

Libya remains in chaos more than four years after the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, and is being fought over by a number of groups, including the self-styled IS.

The mayor of Sabratha said that a building in the city, west of the capital Tripoli, had been hit.

He put the death toll at 41, and said the majority of those killed were Tunisians.

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter last week said the US would continue to target militants in Libya.

“We always keep open the option to do things unilaterally,” he told the BBC.

In November, a US strike in Derna reportedly killed Iraqi IS commander Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al-Zubaydi, who was said to be the group’s leader in Libya.

IS-claimed attacks on the Bardo Museum in Tunis and a beach resort in Sousse last year are believed to have been carried out by gunmen trained in Libya.

Islamic State militants in Libya

IS jihadists seized a strip of land along Libya’s coast, around the city of Sirte, last year

Libyan intelligence officials say foreign fighters and some IS commanders have relocated there from Iraq and Syria

The US estimates the number of IS foreign jihadists at 4,000-6,000

The largest groups are said to be from Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and Iraq

Recent recruitment has focused on sub-Saharan African countries

It is not known how many of the jihadists are nationals of European countries

IS militants have attacked Libyan cities, including Tripoli and Benghazi, and oil installations