Libyan official says IS beheads 11 in checkpoint attack

BENGHAZI, Libya – The spokesman of Libya’s self-styled national army in the east says Islamic State militants beheaded 11 people in an attack on a checkpoint.

Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Mosmari said in a Facebook post that two of those killed Wednesday were civilians, while the rest were soldiers. The attack took place in the central district of al-Jufra, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) south of the coastal city of Sirte, which IS held until it was expelled late last year by Libyan forces.

Libya sank into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Today it is split between rival parliaments and governments in the east and west, each backed by a set of militias, tribes and political factions