Cairo- The Libyan National Army vowed Wednesday to eliminate ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the deaths of nine soldiers from the Libyan army in an attack on a checkpoint controlled by Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli.

“At least nine soldiers were beheaded… in addition to two civilians” at the checkpoint about 500 kilometers south of Tripoli, Colonel Ahmad al-Mesmari said, blaming ISIS for the gruesome attack.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq propaganda channel on the Telegram messaging app, saying its militants had killed or wounded “21 members of Haftar’s militia.”

Notably, the Libyan National Army seized in June al-Jufra, including a key military air base, from the Benghazi Defense Brigades, a coalition that includes Islamists driven out of Libya’s second city by pro-Haftar forces.

Meanwhile, Head of the UN-proposed government’s Presidential Council (PC) Fayez al-Sarraj met in Tripoli Wednesday with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in the presence of British Ambassador to Libya Peter Millett and UN-proposed government’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Sayala.
During the meeting, Johnson renewed the support of the UK for the PC in the aim of achieving accord among Libyan conflicting parties on the political scene.

“We are ready to provide Libya with the necessary support to stabilize the country, and we hail in that regard the road map of Sarraj as well as the joint declaration of Paris,” UK’s Foreign Secretary remarked.

Sarraj, on the other hand, stressed the need for resuming the agreements that were made when Johnson visited Tripoli last May, including cooperation in education, health, energy, and security, besides the scholarships for Libyan graduates at UK universities and institutes.