TRIPOLI, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A car bomb on Saturday hit a military checkpoint of the eastern-based army some 90 km east of the Libyan city of Sirte, destroying military vehicles and injuring a soldier, according to a statement by the army's Sirte Military Operation Chamber.
"A car bomb early in the morning targeted Brigade 165 of the chamber in checkpoint 90, destroying two cars and wounding one soldier," the statement said.
The chamber stressed that the armed forces are continue combing and securing the area.
The operation chamber was formed by the army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, in early 2016 to fight against IS affiliates controlling the city at the time.
However, the forces were not able to enter Sirte, after the forces allied with the UN-backed government of national accord in Tripoli, known as Al-Bunian Al-Marsus, entered the city and waged fierce war against the terrorists for nearly eight months.
The fighting ended in December 2016 with the government forces taking over the city, which is nearly 450 km east of the capital Tripoli. The remnant IS fighters fled to the southern valleys and mountainous areas ever since.
An army source told Xinhua that "the car bomb driven by a suicide bomber suddenly attacked the military checkpoint and hit one of the concrete barriers, causing a large explosion that destroyed a number of military vehicles of the chamber forces."
The source said the attack injured three soldiers of the chamber's Brigade 165.
Haftar's army describes the forces of Al-Bunian Al-Marsus as "armed militias" and demands it to hand over Sirte.
