Continental Focus, International Reach

LNA Moves to Secure Southern Oilfields

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

An offensive was launched in southern Libya by eastern forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar to secure oil and gas facilities and fight extremists. Haftar leads the Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls eastern Libya and the major oil ports in the region.

“We announce the start of an operation to liberate the south,” LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari told reporters in Benghazi. The operations goals include protecting local and foreign oil firms, fighting ISIS and other extremists, and tackling illegal migration, according to Mismari.

Very few details were offered on the LNA offensive by Mismari, however according to a Reuters report citing other military sources, several LNA units had moved in from Benghazi to Sabha, the biggest city in the south of Libya that lies in the same southwestern region as El Sharara, Libya’s biggest oilfield.

It was not immediately clear whether the LNA forces were headed to El Sharara, which has been shut in by a protest by tribesmen and state guards demanding salary payments and development in the area.


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