A Salafist-Madkhali armed group has assaulted Zakri cemetery in Sorman city, destroying the shrine of "Zakaria Al-Mahjoub" that is considered the first mosque in the city in which Friday prayer was held 750 years ago, which was denounced by the Interior Ministry.

Sources from Sorman city said the armed group demolished the shrine of the founder of the small mosque (Zawiya - Masjid) as well as a number of other tombs and historical materials at the Masjid, claiming they were "cracking down on black magic".

The Libyan Interior Ministry issued a statement saying the assault and vandalism, digging out of graves and destroying shrines in Sorman was a form of lawlessness and chaos.

The Interior Ministry of the Government of National Accord added that it was committed to preventing such acts from happening, adding that it had never issues orders to its units to give assistance to any armed groups doing such heinous assaults, warring that those who caused this chaos would bear the consequences of their actions as per legal procedures, as the perpetrators would be arrested by security apparatuses and brought to justice.

This wasn't the first attack on graveyards or shrines by the Salafist-Madkhali armed groups as they attacked a number of similar sites previously in Benghazi, Misrata, Tobruk, Al-Bayda and other cities. They even vandalized antiquities that are protected by the Libyan law.