IS presses assault on key Libya oil region

Fighting raged between the Islamic State group and Libyan forces today as the jihadists pushed on the country's crucial coastal oil terminals.

For the second day running, IS jihadists -- an increasingly powerful force in strife-torn Libya -- attacked oil facilities in the so-called "oil crescent" along Libya's northern coast.

IS has for several weeks been trying to push east from its coastal stronghold of Sirte and officials have warned of crippling consequences if the jihadists manage to seize control of Libya's oil resources.

"Fighting continued today between Daesh and oil facility guards backed by the air force," said Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the unit tasked with guarding oil installations, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
 

"The fighting is happening in an area 20 kilometres southwest of Al-Sidra and we have lost seven men," he said.

The key Al-Sidra and Ras Lanouf oil terminals were both targeted in IS attacks yesterday, prompting the National Oil Company to call on Libya's internationally recognised government to "fully assume its responsibilities" and support guards with weapons, ammunition and equipment.

"If Daesh took control of oil terminals and fields around Al-Sidra, it would greatly paralyse the foundations of the Libyan state," it said, adding that many guards had not been paid for several months.

IS fighters yesterday launched attacks, including a suicide car bombing, near Al-Sidra and Ras Lanouf, an army official said.

The pro-IS Amaq news agency released video footage allegedly showing IS fighters entering Al-Sidra yesterday, but the army official said they had been repulsed.

A Libyan oil official said that a 420,000-barrel oil storage tank in Ras Lanouf caught fire during yesterday's clashes.

The jihadist group said the attack came after it took control of Ben Jawad town, 150 kilometres east of Sirte.

Air strikes were carried out "from dawn until dusk" on jihadist targets between Al-Sidra and Ben Jawad, an air force colonel in Misrata said.

The jihadists have taken advantage of chaos in Libya since the 2011 revolt that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi to extend their influence there.

Yesterday's attack was the first of its kind since IS seized Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte in June 2015.

Ludovico Carlino, a senior analyst at IHS Country Risk said the attacks were part of IS' declared strategy of isolating and controlling energy assets in Libya.