ISIS terrorists claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing against Haftar forces in eastern Libya

The ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility on Friday for a suicide bombing near the eastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya on Thursday.

Eight people, including civilians, were killed when an attacker detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at a barricade manned by forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, local security and hospital sources said.

Eight other people were wounded in what was the second such attack in less than a month.

ISIS, in a statement issued by its propaganda outlet Amaq, said a militant named Abu Qudama al-Saeih had blown up his car at a barricade manned by Haftar’s forces, killing or wounding 19 personnel.

General Fawzi al-Mansouri, a top officer in the local security forces, said civilians were among those killed and wounded in the attack, 840 kilometers (520 miles) from the capital Tripoli.

The attack comes less than a week after a US airstrike killed two al-Qaida militants, including a top recruiter, Musa Abu Dawud, in southern Libya.

ISIS also claimed a March 9 suicide attack to the south of Ajdabiya that wounded three people.

Despite the December 2016 loss of its Sirte bastion in northern Libya, ISIS remains active in the center and south of the country.

The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by chaos since a 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi.

Two authorities – a Tripoli-based unity government and a rival administration in the east – are vying for control of Libya.

Source: Aawsat