ISIS claims attack in southern Libya that killed at least nine

29 people had been either killed or wounded in Friday's attack.

A rocket-riddle building with a sign in Arabic calling for people to stay away from unexploded devices is seen in Tawergha, 260 km east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on November 9, 2018. Displaced families from Tawergha, a town which sided with Libya's leader Moamer Kadhafi before his ouster in a 2011 revolt, have been able to return to their homes after seven years following an agreement on a deal that allowed civilians to return to their hometown.. / AFP / Mahmud TURKIA
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ISIS on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack on a town in Libya's southern desert that killed nine people and in which several people were kidnapped, according to a resident.

The militant group, which made its claim in a statement on its news agency Amaq, said 29 people had been either killed or wounded in Friday's attack.

A military source said the gunmen had occupied a police station in the oasis town of Tazerbo, north of Kufra, until residents expelled them.

The town, used in the past as a resting stop for tourists on Sahara camping tours before Libya plunged into chaos in 2011, listed six residents on its website as among those killed.

A resident said nine people had been killed in all and 10 wounded. Several policemen and civilians had also been abducted, he said.

ISIS has staged several attacks on southern towns since withdrawing into the desert after losing its main stronghold, the coastal city of Sirte, late in 2016.

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