BENGHAZI: The self-styled Libyan National Army loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar announced Sunday a “major offensive” to drive rival groups from the country’s northeastern oil crescent.
Armed groups on Thursday attacked the Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra terminals held by Haftar’s forces around 650 kilometers (400 miles) east of Tripoli.
“We have launched a major offensive supported by the army and air force to drive out the militias of (Ibrahim) Jadhran and his allies,” LNA spokesman Ahmed Al-Mesmari told AFP.
Jadhran’s Petroleum Facilities Guard controlled the terminals for years following the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime Libyan strongman Moamer Khadafi, but were eventually forced out by the LNA.
The LNA controls most of eastern Libya and is opposed to an internationally recognized government based in Tripoli, which has itself condemned Thursday’s militia attacks.
On Thursday, Jadhran said in a video that he had formed an alliance to retake oil terminals seized by Haftar’s forces in September 2016.
The LNA’s air force on Sunday told residents in the oil crescent to stay away from “areas where the enemy gathers, munition stores and sites with military vehicles.”
“Fighter (planes) are carrying out raids against terrorist positions and gatherings in the operational military zone stretching from Ras Lanuf to the edge of the city of Sirte,” the air force said on its Facebook page.
The Red Crescent in Ajdabiya, 150 kilometers east of Ras Lanuf, on Friday said it received 28 bodies, without specifying to which group they belonged.
The NOC on Saturday said a storage tank had been “significantly damaged” due to the armed incursions into Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra.
It called for the “immediate and unconditional surrender” of Jadhran’s militia to “prevent an environmental disaster and further destruction of key infrastructure.”
The NOC on Thursday said it had halted oil exports from Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra because of the violence.
NOC chief Mustafa Sanallah warned that if oil exports from these terminals remain at a standstill it could cause a “national disaster.”
The oil firm warned on Friday that output could fall by up to 400,000 barrels per day if the export shutdown continues.
Libya’s economy relies heavily on oil, with production at 1.6 million barrels per day under Qaddafi.
The 2011 uprising that ousted and killed Qaddafi saw production fall to about 20 percent of that level, before recovering to over one million barrels per day by the end of 2017.
Haftar forces launch push against militias in Libya oil crescent
Haftar forces launch push against militias in Libya oil crescent
- Armed groups attacked the 'Ras Lanuf' and 'Al-Sidra' terminals held by Haftar’s forces.
- Jadhran said in a video that he had formed an alliance to retake oil terminals seized by Haftar’s forces in September 2016.
In major policy shift on Syria, UN Security Council lifts sanctions on Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham
- Move reflects evolving Syrian political landscape in the post-Assad era, ending a global freeze on assets, travel ban and arms embargo
NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Friday removed Al-Nusra Front, the militant group that evolved into Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, from its so-called Daesh and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List.
The move signals a major shift in international policy toward Syria’s evolving political landscape in the post-Assad era, and ends a global freeze on assets, travel ban and arms embargo that have been imposed on the group since 2014.
Al-Nusra Front and Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham were led by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammed Al-Julani, who is now Syria’s president and was a leading figure in the offensive that toppled the Assad regime.
The consensus decision by the Security Council’s sanctions committee was announced by the UK, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month and was acting in the absence of the chair of the committee. It followed a request by the new Syrian authorities to delist “Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.”
The decision means measures that were applied to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham under Security Council Resolution 2734, adopted in 2024, no longer apply. As a result, UN member states are notrequired to freeze the group’s funds, restrict the movement of its representatives, or block the supply or transfer of arms and related materiel.
Al-Nusra Front was added to the sanctions list for its ties to Al-Qaeda and involvement in the financing and execution of militant activities during the war in Syria. The UN initially continued to treat the group’s successor organization, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, as a listed alias.
Al-Sharaa has said the group severed all prior transnational jihadist links and is now solely focused on local Syrian matters.
