Pentagon: Islamic State leader in Libya killed in U.S. airstrike

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The United States for the first time expanded its fight against the Islamic State militant group beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria, targeting an IS senior leader in an airstrike over Libya Friday, the Pentagon said.

Abu Nabil, also known as Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, was a longtime al-Qaida operative and is suspected of narrating a video that showed 21 Coptic Christians beheaded in February.

The airstrike against the Iraqi-born commander took place after the attacks in Paris, but was unrelated. Officials said they had been planning the operation for days. The attack was carried out by a Britain-based U.S. F-15E attack plane.

"Nabil's death will degrade ISIL's ability to meet the group's objectives in Libya, including recruiting new ISIL members, establishing bases in Libya and planning external attacks on the United States," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said, using an acronym for the group that also goes by the names Daesh and ISIS. "While not the first U.S. strike against terrorists in Libya, this is the first U.S. strike against an ISIL leader in Libya and it demonstrates we will go after ISIL leaders wherever they operate."