Libyan Islamist forces bomb eastern oil ports

Two major oil-ports in eastern Libya Es Sidra and Ras Lanuf were hit by an air-raid on Tuesday launched by the Islamist armed forces, according to security sources.

A warplane fired rockets on oil facilities in Es Sidra and the airport in Ras Lanuf, causing no severe damage and no casualties, an official from the Petroleum Facility Guard (PFG) said.

The Islamist armed alliance Libya Dawn did not confirmed the attack.

Since mid-December, the Libya Dawn militants have mounted assaults trying to seize the oil terminals, aiming to cut off any oil income to the internationally recognized government and parliament, now exiled in al-Beida and Tobruk.

But the maneuver now around Es Sidra reached a stalemate, with PFG militias and Libyan National Army managed to block the Islamist militants near the frontline near Ben Jawad.

Libya has witnessed a drastic escalation of violence after the 2011 turmoil which toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The Islamist militants and pro-secular army forces have been vying for cities and towns for months, and fighting still flares near major cities like Benghazi and Tripoli. Endit