BEIRUT: Clashes between regime loyalists and insurgents in rebel-held northwest Syria killed 59 combatants on Tuesday, a war monitor said.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an extremist group led by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, has since January controlled most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighboring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces.
Several other armed rebel groups also operate in the region.
Fighting in southern Idlib and rural Latakia on Tuesday claimed the lives of 29 pro-government forces as well as 30 extremists and allied rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It came as regime warplanes pummelled the Idlib region with air strikes, killing three civilians in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, the Britain-based monitor added.
Regime forces and anti-government fighters have been caught in fierce battles in the region for days, as the former presses with an advance toward a strip straddling the Hama and Idlib governorates.
On Sunday, regime forces seized the town of Al-Habeet in Idlib’s southern countryside, in their first major ground advance in the province since an escalation on the extremist-dominated enclave more than three months ago.
The region was supposed to be protected from a massive government offensive by a Turkish-Russian buffer zone deal struck last September.
But it has come under increasing bombardment by Damascus and its backer Moscow since the end of April that has killed 816 civilians, according to the Observatory.
The violence has also pushed 400,000 people from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Syria’s conflict has killed a total of more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
Clashes kill nearly 60 fighters in northwest Syria
Clashes kill nearly 60 fighters in northwest Syria
- Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) has since January controlled most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighboring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces
- Fighting in southern Idlib and rural Latakia on Tuesday claimed the lives of 29 pro-government forces as well as 30 extremists and allied rebels
Libya brings in Western traders in blow to Russian fuel flows
- The tenders will further reduce Russian product imports into Libya
- Russian fuel exports to Libya have fallen to around 5,000 bpd in 2026 from 56,000 bpd in 2024–2025
LONDON: Global oil firms and traders including Vitol, Trafigura and TotalEnergies have won tenders to supply Libya with gasoline and diesel as the country grants large Western players wider access and reduces imports of Russian fuel, three trading sources told Reuters.
Libya is in the process of overhauling its oil sector 15 years after the fall of leader Muammar Qaddafi and years of civil wars.
The country produces some 1.4 million barrels a day of crude but lacks the infrastructure to refine it, leaving it reliant on fuel imports.
After issuing upstream licensing rounds for the first time in 20 years in an effort to grow crude output to 2 million bpd, Africa’s second-largest oil producer is now changing how it sells its oil and buys the fuel it requires.
Rather than swapping fuel imports for crude exports, it has instead awarded tenders to cover its fuel needs.
In the tenders in recent weeks, which have not previously been reported, Vitol won the rights to supply 5-10 gasoline cargoes a month and some diesel volumes, three traders familiar with the results said.
Trafigura and TotalEnergies also won the right to supply fuel, two of the three traders said. Reuters could not establish the exact volumes.
Vitol, Trafigura, and TotalEnergies declined to comment. Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the tenders.
RUSSIAN IMPORTS DROPPING
The tenders will further reduce Russian product imports into Libya as Western firms source their volumes from refineries in the Mediterranean.
Russian fuel exports to Libya have fallen to around 5,000 bpd in 2026 from 56,000 bpd in 2024–2025, when it was the dominant supplier, according to live data from global analytics firm Kpler.
Italy has become Libya’s top fuel supplier this year with 59,000 bpd, mainly from the ISAB and Sarroch refineries run by Trafigura and Vitol, the Kpler data showed.
Moscow has relied heavily on Africa, Asia and South America for fuel sales after its refined products were banned from the West under sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has also seen its oil exports to India and Turkiye fall under US pressure, pushing more oil toward China.
Overall fuel exports into Libya from all sources have averaged around 186,000 bpd since the start of 2024.
FIRMS ALSO GAIN ACCESS TO CRUDE EXPORTS
Libya will also change the way it handles crude exports, the sources said.
Swiss-based trading firm BGN, previously a key exporter, will see crude liftings fall sharply, all three traders said, as big Western players will be allocated export rights.
Small Swiss-based trader Transmed Trading also picked up several crude cargoes in January and will keep lifting volumes in coming months, two of the three sources said.
Transmed and BGN did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Libya also signed a 25-year oil-development deal with TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips in January, involving more than $20 billion in foreign-financed investment.
