Tripoli: UAE warplanes secretly bombed Islamist militia targets in Libya, apparently catching Washington off guard, as turmoil in the North African country deepened with the Islamists naming a rival premier. American officials confirmed on Monday that the United Arab Emirates’ jets launched two attacks in seven days on the Islamists in Tripoli using bases in Egypt.
An Emirati official said that his country had “no reaction” to the report. The air strikes signalled a step towards direct action by regional Arab states that previously have fought proxy wars in Libya, Syria and Iraq in a struggle for power and influence. “The UAE carried out those strikes,” one US official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States did not take part or provide any assistance in the bombing raids, said the official, who could not confirm that Egypt and the UAE had left Washington totally in the dark about the attacks. Egypt’s Shoukri said: “We have no direct tie to any military operation in Libya.
