Washington: U.S. forces carried out six “precision airstrikes” against a Daesh (ISIS) camp in Libya, killing 17 people, the U.S. Africa Command said Sunday. The command said the airstrikes were conducted Friday, in coordination with Libya’s Government of National Accord, hitting a desert camp 240 kilometers southeast of Sirte, a city that was once its stronghold in Libya.

It said the camp was used by Daesh to move fighters in and out of the country, stockpile weapons and plot and conduct attacks.

The airstrikes were believed to be the first in Libya by U.S. forces since President Donald Trump took office in January. The last known U.S. airstrikes were carried out in early January under then-President Barack Obama, targeting two Daesh camps where militants were suspected of actively planning operations in Europe.

“The United States will track and hunt these terrorists, degrade their capabilities and disrupt their planning and operations by all appropriate, lawful and proportional means, including precision strikes against their forces, terror training camps and lines of communication, as well as partnering with Libyan forces to deny safe havens for terrorists in Libya,” the command said.

Daesh took over Sirte in early 2015, turning it into its most important base outside the Middle East and attracting large numbers of foreign fighters to the city. But it struggled to keep a footing elsewhere in Libya and by last December was forced out of Sirte after a six-month campaign led by brigades from the western city of Misrata and backed by U.S. airstrikes.

Daesh militants have shifted to desert valleys and inland hills southeast of Tripoli as they seek to exploit Libya’s political divisions after their defeat in Sirte.