Libyan Loyalist Bid to Retake Oil Ports Fails

Local Editor

A counter-attack by fighters loyal to Libya's UN-backed unity government aimed at retaking key eastern oil ports was repelled on Sunday by forces from a rival administration.

The operation came as three members of forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord were killed further west in a resumed offensive against Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] group holdouts in Sirte.

The GNA is the centerpiece of UN efforts to restore stability in Libya and forge a central authority capable of tackling the twin scourges of Daesh and rampant people trafficking across the Mediterranean to Europe.

But it has struggled to impose its authority amid opposition from a rival administration based in Libya's remote east.

Oil is Libya's key asset, and revenue from crude exports is vital if the GNA is to rebuild an economy and infrastructure ravaged by violence since the 2011 uprising that killed veteran strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Last week, forces led by controversial military strongman Khalifa Haftar seized Ras Lanuf, Al-Sidra, Zuwaytina and Brega in the so-called "oil crescent" along the coast.

They later handed the ports over to the National Oil Corporation, which said on Thursday that crude exports would resume "immediately" from Zuwaytina and Ras Lanuf.

The NOC said it is loyal to the GNA, but also to the internationally recognized parliament based in the east which supports Haftar's forces and has refused to give the GNA its vote of confidence.

Early Sunday, pro-GNA forces launched an offensive aimed at retaking al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf, but after several hours of fighting Haftar's forces said they launched a counter-attack and repelled the loyalists.

"We repelled the attack and we are chasing them in the region," said Muftah al-Muqarief, who heads oil guards loyal to Haftar, adding that "some" assailants had been captured.

There was no independent confirmation from the oil crescent region of the fighting and the situation on the ground.

A Haftar spokesman, Mohamad Ibset, said earlier that guards loyal to the GNA had attacked.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team