By Jihad Nasr

TRIPOLI

Libya's UN-backed unity government on Thursday confirmed that U.S. forces had conducted an airstrike on Al-Qaeda positions in the country’s southwest.

According to government spokesman Mohamed al-Sallak, the strike was carried out “within the framework of the strategic relations between Libya and the U.S. in the field of counter-terrorism”.

He did not provide any additional details regarding the airstrike, which reportedly took place near the southwestern town of Ubari.

Libya has been beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.