Libya sends reinforcements against militants in oil crescent

The Libyan army and forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar sent military reinforcements to the oil crescent region to fight Libya Dawn militias, officials said Sunday.

A military official told Xinhua that a total of 16 new armoured vehicles were sent to the oil-rich region.

General Saqr Al-Jroshi, Haftar's air force commander, announced that two Su-24M fighter jets have joined the air force fleet and had landed in the Ras Lanuf Oil Airport.

Libya Dawn militias launched an operation earlier last week named "Sunrise operation to liberate oil fields and ports." It claimed that the operation was ordered by the outgoing General National Congress.

The oil crescent region in Libya is an area which includes a number of cities between Benghazi and Sirte (500 km east of capital Tripoli). It contains the largest oil reserves in the country, in addition to the biggest oil ports in Libya -- Al-Sidra, Ras Lanuf and Brega.

Fighting in the oil crescent region caused a decline in Libyan oil production to around 250 thousand barrels per day, compared with 800 thousand barrels per day before the fighting began.