As Arab States Step Up To Assist Libya In Its War Against Islamists The U.S. Condemns Their Intervention

Libya Says It Needs Foreign Help To Defeat Islamists After US Is Caught 'Off Guard' By Secret Airstrikes In The Country Carried Out By UAE -- Daily Mail

* Emirati warplanes secretly bombed Islamist targets in Libya's capital Tripoli
* U.S. officials say they were not told about strikes, which left them 'off-guard'
* UAE attacks seemingly a move towards direct action in Libya by Arab states
* Along with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, UAE sees Islamists as a threat to region
* Islamist dominated General National Congress named rival premier last week
* Interim government - holed up 1,000 miles from Tripoli in Tobruk - has now said it needs foreign assistance to defeat the Islamists

Libya has revealed it needs urgent foreign help defeat Islamists in the country, as U.S. officials admitted they were 'caught off guard' by airstrikes carried out by the UAE.

Using bases in Egypt, Emirati warplanes secretly bombed targets in the Libyan capital Tripoli after the country's Islamist dominated General National Congress named a rival premier early last week.

A senior U.S. official was quoted as saying the America had not known anything about the airstrikes, in what appears to be a dramatic escalation in direct action by regional Arab states that have previously fought proxy wars in Libya.

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More News On Yesterday's Military Intervention In Libya By UAE Warplanes Using Egyptian Airbases

Officials: Egypt, UAE Behind Airstrikes in Libya -- AP
US Surprised by Egypt, UAE Airstrikes on Libyan Militants -- VOA
Libya crisis: US 'caught off-guard' by air strikes -- BBC
US warns UAE and Egypt over air raids in Libya -- Financial Times
Egypt denies 'direct' role in air raids on Libya -- AFP
Do the UAE’s Airstrikes in Libya Mean the United States Is Losing Influence in the Middle East? -- Joshua Keating, Slate
Libya: The escalation of a proxy war? -- Inside Story/Al Jazeera
Libya Dawn takes upper hand in civil war, as regional powers intervene -- Middle East Eye
Why the bombing of Tripoli is a game-changer for the fight against the Islamic State -- Bobby Ghosh, Quartz
Libyan raids herald bolder Arab action as U.S. role wavers -- Reuters

Update: US and allies warn of 'interference' in Libya -- Al Jazeera