Libya: IS attacks two main oil installations

The Jihadist group, Islamic State (IS) has attacked two important oil installations in Libya.

The attack took place on Monday morning near Ras Lanouf, North of Libya.

A guard told Reuters that IS suicide car bombers had attacked Es Sider, after which the insurgents retreated, and that the tank at Ras Lanuf, about 20 km (13 miles) from Es Sider, had been hit by a rocket.

“We were attacked this morning by a convoy of about ten vehicles of IS men heading to Al-Sedra and Ras Lanouf,” Libyan government representative, Bachir Boudhfira told AFP in a telephone conversation.

The attack which killed two people according to a Libyan military personnel was well managed by soldiers as they helped to repel the assault of the Islamists.

“They then led an attack to the South of the city of Ras Lanouf but did not manage to enter it,” the Libyan military personnel told AFP.

He added that the attack caused some damages at the oil installations.

#Islamic #State fighters #target #Libya's main oil terminals https://t.co/ikwCcuPgdn

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A spokesman for Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) indicated that a reservoir of a capacity of 420,000 barrels of oil caught fire during the confrontations in the South of Ras Lanouf.

The Jihadist group IS announced on its Twitter account that its people led today “an attack against the region of Al-Sedra” of which one of its members had blown up in a car bomb.

The Islamists group also asserted that the led assault came after the “total” control of Ben Jawad’s , a coastal city situated 600 km east of Tripoli and 145 km east of Sirte since June, 2015.

IS has taken advantage of the security vacuum to grab territory and is threatening to advance from Sirte, which it controls. So far the group has failed to take control of any Libyan oil installations but has done so in Syria.

However, no Libyan official or military source was able to confirm this information.

Libya’s crude oil production has dropped to less than a quarter compared to 2011 high level of 1.6 million barrels per day.

The United Nations has been trying to win support for a deal brokered in Morocco last month to create a national unity government for Libya.

The rise of extremist groups is an alarming, urgent challenge. Join us in fighting back. https://t.co/GbJXxQgqb7

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