US Airstrike Targets ISIS Leader in Libya

— -- Two U.S. F-15E fighters flying out of Lakenheath, England, struck the compound of ISIS leader in Libya Abu Nabil last night in the vicinity of Darna, Libya, the Pentagon announced today.

The U.S. is still assessing the results of the strike, but the compound was cleanly struck with precision-guided munitions, according to one defense official who spoke to ABC News.

"On November 13, the U.S. military conducted an airstrike in Libya against Abu Nabil, aka Wissam Najm Abd Zayd al Zubaydi, an Iraqi national who was a longtime al Qaeda operative and the senior ISIL leader in Libya," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in an emailed statement to the press.

Cook said Nabil may also have been the spokesman in the February 2015 Coptic Christian execution video.

"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," he said.

The airstrike is significant because it's the first time the U.S. has targeted an ISIS leader inside Libya. The U.S has killed an apprehended other terrorist inside Libya before, but none affiliated with ISIS directly until now.

The U.S. has assessed Libya as a growing safe-haven for ISIS where they are known to have established training camps.

In July U.S military drones struck ISIS military leaders inside Afghanistan, another region where ISIS is expanding. However, Pengtagon officials say the ISIS presence in Afghanistan is largely seen as disaffected Taliban who have chosen to brand themselves as ISIS in order to get more attention.

The Pentagon also mentioned that this attack was authorized and initiated prior to the terror attacks in Paris.