At least 11 people were beheaded on Wednesday in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group on a checkpoint manned by forces of libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar’s spokesman Colonel Ahmad al-Mesmari said “at least nine soldiers were beheaded... In addition to two civilians” when the jihadists attacked at dawn in the Al-Jufra region about 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Tripoli.
IS claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq propaganda channel on the Telegram messaging app, saying its fighters had killed or wounded “21 members of Haftar’s militia”. libya has been rocked by chaos since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed revolution.