Story highlights ISIS says the Berlin Christmas market attacker was working on its behalf

Other ISIS members linked to the attack may have been at Libya camp US bombed last week, officials say

(CNN) Intelligence indicating the possible presence of terrorists linked to the Berlin truck attack contributed to the decision to strike Libyan camps 28 miles southwest of Sirte last week, a US official and a source close to Libyan intelligence told CNN.

On December 19, 2016, the Tunisian extremist Anis Amri drove a truck into a Christmas market in the German capital, killing 12. Police shot him dead four days later near Milan, Italy. Soon after, ISIS released a selfie-video he prerecorded from a Berlin bridge claiming he was acting on its behalf. Investigative files obtained by CNN showed he was part of an ISIS recruitment network inside Germany.

Overnight on January 18-19, two B-2 bombers making a 30-hour round trip from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, dropped 100 precision munitions on the camps, killing more than 80 ISIS fighters, according to initial Pentagon estimates.

In a news conference on January 19, outgoing Defense Secretary Ash Carter said, "Importantly, these strikes were directed against some of ISIL's external plotters, who were actively planning operations against our allies in Europe ... and may also have been connected with some attacks that have already occurred in Europe."

The United States is still working to confirm whether the external plotters suspected of links to the Berlin attacks were killed in the strikes, a US official told CNN.

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