Tripoli: An attack on a checkpoint between the Libyan capital and the town of Zliten killed four soldiers of the UN-backed unity government on Thursday, the town’s mayor said.

“The attack was carried out with grenades and light weapons at 7.45am. Four people were killed and five wounded,” Mayor Moftah Ahmadi told AFP.

Zliten lies 170 kilometres east of the capital in an area of western Libya under the control of the beleaguered Tripoli-based government.