The United States has deployed attack helicopters to Libya to help local forces fighting against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, a US military official says.

The Pentagon has already deployed fighter jets as well as Special Operations troops to the North African country to purportedly assist forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) to retake the coastal city of Sirte.

Marine Corps AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters recently joined the operation, Lieutenant Commander Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), said on Tuesday.

“The Cobras provide additional precision airstrike capability,” Stuttgart-based Falvo told AFP in a phone interview. “It gives us a little bit more flexibility.”

SuperCobra gunships are stationed on the USS Wasp, the US Navy’s multipurpose amphibious assault ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

Presstv