An attack by the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group has claimed the lives of four security forces in the Libyan northwestern city of Misrata.

According to reports, the ISIL militants launched an offensive on the eastern entrance of the strategic city on Sunday, leaving four dead and three others injured.

"Four security personnel were killed and three others were wounded in an armed attack on Sunday by the ISIL affiliated militants on Abu-Grin gate," Chinese official Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed Libyan local official as saying.

The official added that the terrorists managed to escape the scene after gunning down the victims.

"Initial information indicates that the armed men attacked the gate while driving two vehicles. They opened fire on security men and fled," the source pointed out.

Last week, five people lost their lives and six others were wounded after Takfiri terrorists attacked the western gate of Misrata.

The North African country is beset with a profound political crisis as it currently has two rival governments, one based in the capital Tripoli and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk.

The ISIL terrorist group also entered the equation in February 2015 after releasing a video that purportedly showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya.

Back in May, UN special envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon (seen below) warned that the growing rise of the ISIL in Libya would pose a serious threat to the security of the region and the world if the warring factions in the country do not reach an agreement to end hostilities in the near future.

Several rounds of UN-sponsored peace talks have so far failed to deliver any practical results for the violence-ravaged country.