11 beheaded in jihadist attack on Libya checkpoint

BENGHAZI, Libya — At least 11 people were beheaded Wednesday after an attack on a checkpoint controlled by Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli, a spokesman for his forces said.

“At least nine soldiers were beheaded… in addition to two civilians” at the checkpoint about 300 miles south of Tripoli, Colonel Ahmad al-Mesmari said, blaming the Islamic State jihadist group for the gruesome attack.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack at dawn on a checkpoint run by Haftar’s forces in the Al-Jufra region.

Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army seized the area, including a key military air base, in June from the Benghazi Defense Brigades coalition which includes Islamists driven out of Libya’s second city by the field marshal’s forces last month.

Analysts and military sources say IS remains active in Libya, particularly the south, despite losing its stronghold of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast in December 2016.

Libya has been rocked by chaos since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed revolution.

Jihadists, arms dealers and people traffickers have gained a foothold in Libya as multiple authorities and dozens of militias vie for power.