Libya Oil Ports Guard Calls In Air Strikes on Islamist Militias
Libyas government struck from the air at Islamist militias it said shelled the countrys largest oil port today, according to the military unit in charge of protecting export terminals.
The strike comes two days after the Petroleum Facilities Guard gave the militias 72 hours to return to Misrata, their main stronghold, to avoid the airstrikes after an earlier attack on the Es Sider terminal.
We decided to order attacks from the air without waiting after the rocket attack on Es Sider, Ali al-Hasy, a spokesman for unit, said by phone from the port, where loading was halted Dec. 13 after a first round of clashes.
Aircraft belonging to the internationally recognized government of Abdullah al-Thinni attacked the artillery unit that fired on the port and bombed positions in Misrata and along the front line in Bin Jawad, 35 kilometers west of Es Sider, he said.
The self-proclaimed government of Omar al-Hassi didnt confirm todays bombing of the port. On Dec. 13 it ordered the Islamist militias backing it to wrest the eastern oil export terminals from the control of Thinnis government.
A fire at the storage terminal caused by todays shelling has been contained and there is no risk of it spreading to other facilities, al-Hasy said.
State-run National Oil Corp. on Dec. 13 declared force majeure in Es Sider and the neighboring port of Ras Lanuf, Libyas third-largest, because of the fighting. Force majeure is a legal clause that protects a company from liability when it cant fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.
The fighting caused crude output to decline to 352,000 barrels a day, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for National Oil, said today by phone.
This level makes Libya, which sits on Africas largest oil reserves, the smallest producer of the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The country was producing about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafis 42-year rule.
The Petroleum Facilities Guard said the militias killed 14 soldiers who were guarding a power plant in Sirte, a former Qaddafi stronghold west of Es Sider.
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Libya Oil Ports Guard Calls In Air Strikes on Islamist Militias