| Fighters from Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government take position during a battle with Islamic State militants in Sirte, Libya September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny |
Two soldiers were killed and three wounded at a military checkpoint in northeastern Libya on Wednesday, witnesses and officials said, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
A witness said about a dozen armed vehicles had been used in the dawn assault on a checkpoint 60 km (37 miles) south of the city of Ajdabiya run by the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA).
The attackers set fire to the checkpoint and one of the victims was burned inside his car, said Mustafa Boufjara, a spokesman for Ajdabiya’s security department. Images of the checkpoint showed charred checkpoint cabins and two burned cars.
In a statement carried by Islamic State’s Amaq news agency, IS said its militants had seized a vehicle equipped with a machinegun as well as other weapons and ammunition.
Islamic State militants have carried out several attacks on LNA checkpoints in recent months.
The jihadists have been trying to regroup from desert bases since losing their stronghold of Sirte, about 390 km (240 miles) west of Ajdabiya, last December.