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Libya militia attacks oil facility in east: military official
BENGHAZI, Libya, June 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A militia opposed to Libya’s
military strongman Khalifa Haftar on Thursday attacked eastern oil sites
under his control, setting fire to at least one crude reservoir, a military
source said.
The attack was carried out by the Benghazi Defence Brigades, including
fighters driven from Benghazi city by forces loyal to Haftar, the source
said.
The fighting took place south of Ras Lanuf and Al-Sedra, two terminals
severely damaged in clashes between the two groups in 2016 and 2017.
One of the reservoirs was hit by a rocket fired by the attackers, the same
military source said.
A spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, which controls
most of the country’s east, said the attack had been repelled.
“The army and air force have been tracking down the Benghazi terrorist
brigades,” who fled the area, the spokesman said.
“The attack aimed to reduce pressure on the terrorists in Derna,” the LNA
spokesman added.
The LNA launched an offensive on May 7 to “liberate” the coastal city of
Derna, home to about 150,000 people and held by hardline Islamist fighters
since the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
The city is the only major part of eastern Libya outside the LNA’s control.
It is held by a coalition of jihadist militias, including groups close to
Al-Qaeda, who oppose both Haftar and the Islamic State group.
Backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, Haftar’s forces oppose an
internationally recognised government based in Tripoli.
BSS/AFP/RY/1755 hrs