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By Libya Herald reporter.
Misrata, 13 April 2016:
Coordinated attacks this morning by the so-called Islamic State left at least six people dead . . .[restrict]on the back road between Misrata and Bani Walid, the Libya Herald has been told by a reliable Misratan security official.
The slaughter started when in the early hours of the morning IS raided a military base known as the 28 May Castle camp. It is on the road east of Bani Walid heading towards the Saddadah checkpoint, itself some 75 kilometres south of Misrata on the road towards Sirte.
In the attack, IS forces are variously reported to have killed five, possibly seven, people at the camp. Three are said to have been beheaded. One report says that those killed included the former leader of Bani Walid military council and three foreigners working at the camp. It is not known if the foreigners were the ones beheaded.
In the raid, IS stole a number of military vehicles as well as guns and ammunition.
Meanwhile, calls for help from those at the camp to Misratan forces at the Saddadah checkpoint resulted in a small unit heading there. On their way, they are said to have come across an empty Toyota vehicle parked on the side of the desert road. They stopped and went to examine it. When they opened the door, the vehicle exploded, killing one man and wounding four others, one seriously. The wounded are now in Misrata hospital.
The Misratan security official insisted that the incident was not a suicide attack, as has been widely reported, but a booby trap.
The road between the Saddadah checkpoint and Bani Walid is reputedly much used by smugglers as well as by IS.
UN Special Envoy Martin Kobler has condemned the attack. [/restrict]
