A Tunisian bomber with the Daesh militant group has rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint in western Libya, killing five people.
The group claimed responsibility for the Thursday bombing near the town of Abu-Qrain, about 50 miles from the city of Misrata, identifying the attacker as Khabab al-Tunisi.
The victims have been identified as members of a Misrata-based militia, who were manning the outpost.
Daesh alleged that the strike had killed "all the forces there and opened the road" for the group to take control of villages in the surrounding area. It, however, is yet to be confirmed whether the group controls Abu-Qrain.
Local official Mohammed Shamia, meanwhile, said warplanes taking off from Misrata had struck Daesh positions nine times since the morning, killing the group’s terrorists and destroying their vehicles.
Libya has been experiencing a power vacuum since the 2011 overthrow of Moammar Gaddhafi and is considered by many to have withered into a failed state. Daesh, which is mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has seized upon the chaos to fan out through Libya and seize control of its northern city of Sirte.
The country shares borders with Tunisia, where Daesh has killed dozens of people since last year, prompting Tunis to launch operations against the militant group and set up a 125-mile-long barrier on the common border.
