The administrators of Libya affirm the murder of at least three soldiers by Islamic State militants in an assault on a checkpoint in a desert town.

A statement by the self-styled Libyan National Army said the militants grabbed four soldiers in the attack at the town of Zallah Saturday, but troops were able to free three of them.

The Islamic State group didn’t deny that they’re responsible for the assault.

The extremist group expanded its sphere in Libya after the country was nosedived into havoc after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed Moammar Gadhafi.

Zallah is about 750 kilometers (466 miles) southeast of the capital, Tripoli, where Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter's LNA forces are currently fighting to take control of the city from militias affiliated with a weak U.N.-supported government.