A suspected Islamic State militant driving a car laden with explosives surrendered to Libyan security forces at a checkpoint rather than go ahead with an attack in Misrata, a security official said.
The Misratan counter-terrorism official, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said he surrendered at a checkpoint near Abu Grain, but it was not immediately clear why he handed himself in.
Abu Grain is south of Misrata and west of Sirte, a city Islamic State controlled until they were driven out by a Misratan-led military campaign in 2016.
“The suspect handed himself in to security forces early on Thursday,” the official told Reuters. “The car bomb is being dismantled by explosives experts.”
Since Islamic State’s defeat in Sirte, Libyan and Western security officials say militants are trying to regroup in desert areas to the south, where they were targeted last year by several US air strikes.
They occasionally set up temporary checkpoints and had done so in two places on a remote road on Wednesday, the Misratan official said.
Islamic State also claimed a deadly attack on a courthouse complex in Misrata last year.
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