IS claims responsibility for deadly Libya checkpoint attack
IS claims responsibility for deadly Libya checkpoint attack
A deadly raid on a checkpoint has been claimed by the Islamic State group, two years after the militants were defeated in their coastal stronghold.
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Checkpoints span Libya run by rival militias [AFP]
Libya's branch of the Islamic State group on Saturday claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a checkpoint between the capital Tripoli and the town of Zliten earlier this week.
At least four people were killed when militants armed with grenades and rifles attacked the security team on the highway that runs along the Mediterranean coast.
IS made the claim of the west Libya attack on its Amaq media channel, which comes two years after the fall of the group's former stronghold in Sirtre.
Most of the soldiers were killed inside the building used as a rest quarters for the troops at the checkpoint in Zliten, which lies 170 kilometres (105 miles) from the capital.
It lies in an area of western Libya under the control of the beleaguered Tripoli-based government.
"According to preliminary reports, there were three attackers and one of them was killed in the exchange of fire," Mayor Moftah Ahmadi said, adding that the two others had escaped.
Zliten's security chief said IS were chief suspects in Thursday's attack.
IS was dislodged from its stronghold in the coastal city of Sirte, in 2016 with some surviving militants fleeing inland.
Libya is currently split between rival governments in the east and the west.
At least four people were killed when militants armed with grenades and rifles attacked the security team on the highway that runs along the Mediterranean coast.
IS made the claim of the west Libya attack on its Amaq media channel, which comes two years after the fall of the group's former stronghold in Sirtre.
Most of the soldiers were killed inside the building used as a rest quarters for the troops at the checkpoint in Zliten, which lies 170 kilometres (105 miles) from the capital.
It lies in an area of western Libya under the control of the beleaguered Tripoli-based government.
"According to preliminary reports, there were three attackers and one of them was killed in the exchange of fire," Mayor Moftah Ahmadi said, adding that the two others had escaped.
Zliten's security chief said IS were chief suspects in Thursday's attack.
IS was dislodged from its stronghold in the coastal city of Sirte, in 2016 with some surviving militants fleeing inland.
Libya is currently split between rival governments in the east and the west.
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