February 4, 2015 by admin

IS gunmen storm Libyan oilfield, 4 dead

Tripoli, Gunmen linked to Islamist militants assaulted and seized control of a Libyan oilfield in the second high-profile attack in the country in a week, Libyan officials said on Wednesday.A French diplomatic source in Paris said four local employees were believed to have been killed in the raid on the remote al-Mabrook oilfield south of Sirte on Tuesday night.France’s Total has a stake in the site but it is contracted to a Libyan company. “Unknown gunmen stormed the Mabrook oilfield last night,” National Oil Corp (NOC) spokesman Mohamed El Harari said, without providing details.Ali al-Hassi, spokesman for an oil guard force, blamed Islamists for the attack. “The field is outside of our control,” he said. “Islamic State is controlling it.”Rival armed factions have been fighting for almost two months for control of Libya’s biggest oil ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, on the Mediterranean coast.Four years after the overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi, the country is in turmoil with two rival governments controlling different areas, each with their own armies.It was not immediately possible to verify the assertion that Islamists were involved. — Reuters