Libya Drone Attack Hits Zawiya Oil Refinery, Fuel Tank Collapses In Blaze

Edited
by:
Saim
Du&sca o ;a
I ayatullah

Libya’s
Natio al
Oil
Co po atio
(NOC)
said
Tuesday
that
fi es
at
a
fuel
sto age
facility
had
bee
quickly
b ought
u de
co t ol
afte
a
d o e
attack.

The
Zawiya
oil
complex
west
of
T ipoli
is
home
to
the
cou t y’s
la gest
efi e y
a d
has
bee
the
sce e
of
epeated
a med
clashes
betwee
wa i g
factio s
fighti g
fo
p imacy
i
the
cou t y
si ce
the
fall
of
fo me
st o gma
leade
Moamma
Gadhafi
i
2011.

What
happe ed
i
the
d o e
attack
o
Libya’s
Zawiya
oil
efi e y?

Mo day’s
attack
by
a
as
yet
u decla ed
acto
ta geted
the
Zawiya
Oil
Refi i g
Compa y
with
explosives-lade
d o es,
causi g
a
ta k
co tai i g
about
4.5
millio
lite s
(1.2
millio
gallo s)
of
gasoli e
to
collapse
afte
a
fi e.

Ow e
B ega
Pet oleum
Ma keti g
said
the
fi es
had
bee
b ought
u de
co t ol
fa
faste
tha
expected,
with
e gi ee s
telli g
Reute s
ews
age cy
that
damage
had
bee
limited,
though
ope atio s
we e
i te upted.

I
a
stateme t
o
X,
Abdulhamid
Dbeibah,
Libya’s
i te atio ally
ecog ized
p ime
mi iste ,
w ote
that
the
c ime
of
ta geti g
civilia
i f ast uctu e
would
” ot
go
u a swe ed.”

“The
use
of
d o es
to
st ike
vital
facilities,”
w ote
Dbeibah,
“is
ot
a
a dom
i cide t,
but
athe
a
o ga ized
a d
da ge ous
act
that
equi es
a
fi m
espo se
to
p otect
the
state
a d
its
i stitutio s
a d
p eve t
its
ecu e ce.”

Officials
f om
Libya’s
elect icity
p ovide
said
two
fu the
d o es
ta geted
the
Zawiya
powe
pla t
ea ly
Tuesday
mo i g,
with
o e
hitti g
the
fi e-fighti g
system
but
causi g
o
damage.

What
is
the
secu ity
situatio
i
divided
Libya?

Libya
has
emai ed
divided
si ce
the
2011
up isi g
that
toppled
Gadhafi.
Dbeibah’s
UN- ecog ized
gove me t
is
based
i
T ipoli
i
the
west,
while
easte
a d
pa ts
of
southe
Libya
a e
co t olled
by
the
Libya
Natio al
A my
(LNA),
a
milita y
fo ce
led
by
comma de
Khalifa
Hafta .

Amid
those
te sio s,
the
LNA
said
its
head
of
milita y
i tellige ce,
Fawzi
al-Ma sou i,
was
killed
i
a
ca
bombi g
i
Be ghazi
o
Mo day
ight.

Acco di g
to
the
LNA,
a
explosive
device
attached
to
al-Ma sou i’s
vehicle
deto ated
as
he
left
a
mosque.
Autho ities
have
ot
ide tified
those
espo sible.

Khaled
Hafta ,
o e
of
Khalifa
Hafta ‘s
so s,
said
a
i vestigatio
had
bee
ope ed,
addi g
that
i itial
“i dicato s
poi t
to
a
despicable
te o ist
tactic,”
acco di g
to
AFP
ews
age cy.

His
office
late
said
autho ities
had
a ested
a
“te o ist
cell”
i
Be ghazi
that
was
allegedly
p epa i g
acts
of
sabotage,
but
did
ot
say
whethe
it
was
li ked
to
al-Ma sou i’s
killi g.

Al-Ma sou i
was
a
p omi e t
milita y
figu e
close
to
the
Hafta
family
a d
had
played
a
key
ole
i
fighti g
jihadist
g oups
i
easte
Libya.

How
has
Libya’s
political
divisio
affected
oil
p oductio ?

The
split
betwee
dueli g
admi ist atio s
has
stu ted
the
cou t y’s
oil
p oduci g
p og ess
a d
kept
fo eig
i vesto s
wa y
as
ival
sides
clash
ove
co t ol
of
the
oil
eve ues
that
pou
i to
the
Ce t al
Ba k
of
Libya.

I
2024,
a
sta doff
ove
co t ol
of
the
ba k
slashed
the
cou t y’s
oil
expo ts
by
mo e
tha
half.

Libya
holds
Af ica’s
la gest
p ove
oil
ese ves,
yet
has
st uggled
to
etu
to
p e-2011
p oductio
levels
of
1.6
millio
ba els
pe
day.
Ju e
p oductio
hit
1.44
millio
ba els
pe
day,
the
highest
output
levels
si ce
2013,
but
fa
sho t
of
its
ta get
of
2
millio
ba els
pe
day.

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