President Trump authorized the airstrikes based on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, an administration official said on Sunday. Reda Eissa, a spokesman for the coalition of militias backed by Mr. Serraj’s Government of National Accord, said he had no information about Friday’s airstrikes. The American airstrikes come at a particularly chaotic moment for Libya. Mr. Salamé said the United Nations was ready to facilitate a “security dialogue” with Libya’s many armed factions with a view to drawing them into the political process. It was not immediately clear why the Trump administration did not temporarily turn back on the exemption from the Obama-era rules.

Source: New York Times September 24, 2017 18:45 UTC