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{{Gunmen have attacked a military checkpoint south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli killing 15 soldiers, the authorities say.}}

A military official said the attack was near Bani Walid, a stronghold in 2011 of supporters of former leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Several more soldiers are reported to have been injured.

It is not clear who carried out the attack, but the government has struggled to control armed groups.

The official, describing it as an ambush, said the attack took place on a road between Bani Walid city and the town of Tarhouna.

The troops came under heavy fire from the gunmen who drove vehicles with mounted machine guns, the official said.

An army captain was quoted as saying five soldiers were wounded in the attack in the Wishtata district.

The main road to Bani Walid was closed while the incident was investigated.

The lack of central government control over large swathes of Libya has left room for armed groups linked to clans and Islamist militants to thrive, analysts say.

Much of the recent violence has been blamed on groups which grew out of the rebel movement behind the overthrow of Col Gaddafi during the 2011 civil war.

Military officers and other members of the security apparatus are among those to have been targeted in recent weeks.

The lack of security in Libya has been highlighted this year by clashes in the eastern city of Benghazi as protesters demanded the disbandment of militias.

Gunmen also surrounded ministries in Tripoli earlier this year demanding the sacking of officials who worked during Gaddafi’s rule.

aljazeera

{{Madagascan authorities have imposed a curfew after a mob burned to death three people they claimed had mutilated and killed a local eight-year-old boy.}}

Government ministers flew to the island of Nosy Be on Friday to appeal for calm after a local man, a French national and an Italian were beaten and then burned on the tourist beach of Ambatoloaka on Thursday.

The government later imposed a curfew on the island to stop further violence.

The attack happened after residents discovered a boy’s mutilated body on a beach, and claimed the men had killed him to harvest his organs.

Security forces said the two Europeans had been tortured into a confession. They were named locally as Sebastien Judalet and Roberto Gianfala. The local man was not identified.

‘No risk to tourists’

An island resident, identified only as Lala, claimed the crowd had made sure the men were guilty before killing them.

“They spoke for a long time until the morning hours, and then the foreigners confessed they had killed the child. We have it on video,” he claimed, but provided no evidence.

On Friday, a pile of ash and body parts were the only recognisable signs of the earlier violence.

Both Europeans held tourism visas, although the Italian’s had expired. Local residents insisted there was no risk to tourists.

“We’ve got nothing against foreigners. You can come visit and there won’t be a problem,” said a man from the island’s capital, Hell-Ville, who identified himself only as Jacob.

“We are targeting the culprits. It’s public justice – we just kill them, and if you refuse to kill them we kill you because you’re an accomplice.”

Mob justice is common on the vast island nation off the southeastern African coast, which authorities struggle to police effectively.

More than 255,000 tourists visited Madagascar last year. France has warned its citizens to avoid Nosy Be until calm had been restored.

Source: Agencies