A second bomber struck at Buayrat al-Hasun, about 90 km west of
Sirte, the statement said. It said 26 "apostates" had been killed in the
two operations and 30 wounded.
Libyan
soldiers man a checkpoint in Wadi Bey, west of the Islamic State-held
city of Sirte, February 23, 2016.
Islamic State said it had carried out two suicide bombings against brigades loyal to Libya's U.N.-backed unity government, inflicting heavy casualties during fighting west of the militant group's stronghold of Sirte.
The
brigades said 32 of their men had been killed and 50 wounded as they
pushed Islamic State fighters back towards Sirte on Wednesday, their
heaviest losses for months.
Western powers are counting on the new government to unify Libya's political and armed factions to take on Islamic State.
The
militant group took advantage of Libya's political turmoil and security
vacuum to take over Sirte last year and establish a presence in several
other Libyan towns and cities.
It controls a strip of coast about 250 km (155 miles) long either side of Sirte.
The
ultra-hardline group said in a statement released overnight that a
Sudanese militant had carried out a truck bombing on the road between
Bani Walid and Sirte, targeting a group of brigade fighters.
A
second bomber struck at Buayrat al-Hasun, about 90 km west of Sirte,
the statement said. It said 26 "apostates" had been killed in the two
operations and 30 wounded.
Military officials said on Wednesday seven of their men had been killed in the bombing at Buayrat al-Hasun.
The
fighting comes after Islamic State militants overran the town of Abu
Grain and several villages after staging suicide attacks against
checkpoints in the area on May 5.
The unity government then created a new operations room in Misrata, which announced a campaign to recapture Sirte.
Abu Grain is about 140 km west of Sirte and about 100 km south of Misrata.
The
unity government arrived in Tripoli in late March and is still trying
to establish its authority. It has been supported by Misrata's powerful
military brigades, which also have a strong presence in the capital. But
it has so far failed to win formal backing from key political and
military factions based in eastern Libya.
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