Libyan army clashes with rebels occupying oil ports
24 March 2014 4:23 AM IST
Libyan rebels occupying oil ports clashed with troops on Saturday after attacking an army base where reinforcements were preparing for an offensive to break the blockade, local residents said.
Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized three ports in summer to demand a greater share in Libya’s oil wealth.
Fighting broke out just hours before the return to Libya of an oil tanker seized on Sunday by US commandos in the Mediterranean after it had loaded crude at one of the ports Jathran’s men have occupied. The Morning Glory, once a North Korean-flagged vessel, was expected to arrive on Saturday in Libya under US Navy escort and dock at Zawiya, one of the country’s key ports under government control.
There was no immediate confirmation from hospitals of any casualties after rebels opened fire with anti-aircraft canons and rocket-propelled grenades on the army base. Residents said nearby homes were hit by several shells in the attack. ‘You can hear heavy shooting at several places in Ajdabiya,’ said one resident.
The struggle for control of Libya’s vital petroleum resources is one of the challenges facing the weak central government, which has been unable to secure the North African country three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Brigades of former anti-Gaddafi rebels and militias refuse to disarm and often use armed force or control over oil facilities to make demands on a state whose national army is still in training.
Tripoli’s central government gave Jathran a two-week deadline on 12 March to end his port blockade or face a military assault, though analysts say Libya’s nascent armed forces may struggle to carry out that threat.
Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized three ports in summer to demand a greater share in Libya’s oil wealth.
Fighting broke out just hours before the return to Libya of an oil tanker seized on Sunday by US commandos in the Mediterranean after it had loaded crude at one of the ports Jathran’s men have occupied. The Morning Glory, once a North Korean-flagged vessel, was expected to arrive on Saturday in Libya under US Navy escort and dock at Zawiya, one of the country’s key ports under government control.
There was no immediate confirmation from hospitals of any casualties after rebels opened fire with anti-aircraft canons and rocket-propelled grenades on the army base. Residents said nearby homes were hit by several shells in the attack. ‘You can hear heavy shooting at several places in Ajdabiya,’ said one resident.
The struggle for control of Libya’s vital petroleum resources is one of the challenges facing the weak central government, which has been unable to secure the North African country three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Brigades of former anti-Gaddafi rebels and militias refuse to disarm and often use armed force or control over oil facilities to make demands on a state whose national army is still in training.
Tripoli’s central government gave Jathran a two-week deadline on 12 March to end his port blockade or face a military assault, though analysts say Libya’s nascent armed forces may struggle to carry out that threat.
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