Isis launches deadly attack on Libyan oil towns

Islamic State militants launched attacks near oil facilities in northern Libya on Monday but were pushed back, an army official has said.

The jihadis carried out a suicide car bomb attack on a military checkpoint at the entrance to the town of al-Sidra, killing two soldiers, said a colonel in the army loyal to the internationally recognised government.

“We were attacked by a convoy of a dozen vehicles belonging to Isis,” Bashir Boudhfira said. “They then launched an attack on the town of Ras Lanouf via the south but did not manage to enter.”

For several weeks Isis has been trying to push east from the coastal city of Sirte under its control to reach Libya’s “oil crescent” where key oil terminals such as al-Sidra and Ras Lanouf are based.