BENGHAZI, Libya: The forces of eastern Libya’s military strongman Khalifa Haftar have lost control of a key oil export terminal they had seized last year, a spokesman conceded on Saturday.



Colonel Ahmad al-Mismari said that the rival forces had overrun the main airfield in the oil port of Ras Lanuf and identified them as militias of the Benghazi Defence Brigades.

An array of forces, most of them loyal to the UN-backed government in Tripoli, have been involved in efforts to oust Haftar from the oil ports, whose seizure enabled him to pose a major challenge to its authority.

But the Tripoli government on Friday evening denied any involvement in the renewed offensive on the oil ports, condemning it as a “military escalation”.

The forces involved in the latest assault are a mixture of militias, eastern tribes opposed to Haftar and members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard which controlled the ports before Haftar’s takeover. </s> Forces loyal to Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar have said that they had taken one of the last remaining strongholds of an al-Qaeda-linked group in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Haftar's self-declared Libyan National Army (LNA) "liberated all of Qanfouda", an area 15km west of the centre of Benghazi, spokesman Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

Two other LNA officials confirmed to AFP news agency that Qanfouda, the scene of fierce fighting since June against Ansar al-Sharia, had fallen.

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Jamal al-Zahawi, an LNA commander, told broadcaster Libya Channel that his forces have freed more than 60 people from captivity, following the fighting.

No casualty numbers were provided in the latest fighting.

Another official, however, said there were still pockets of resistance from Ansar al-Sharia, which is linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, in the districts of Al-Saberi and Souq al-Hout.

Regaining Qanfouda is part of a military campaign launched in mid-2014 under Haftar, who repeatedly said his aim is "to drive radical Islamists" from Benghazi.

Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, was the birthplace of the 2011 armed revolt that toppled longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But Libya descended into chaos after Gaddafi fell, with several armed groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, gaining a foothold in the north African country.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord based in the capital, Tripoli, has failed to assert its authority over the country, while a rival group backed by Haftar runs a separate administration from the eastern city of Tobruk. </s> The Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) says it has captured five cities and two major oil-producing areas in the east of Libya after opposing forces carried out air raids around major oil ports overnight, seeking to regain control of the area.

At least nine men were killed in the fighting on Friday as the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) and allied forces retreated from the oil ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, two of Libya's largest export terminals, following the attacks by the BDB.

The forces of eastern Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar conceded the loss on Saturday.

"The attackers were armed with modern tanks," spokesman for Haftar's forces, Colonel Ahmad al-Mismari, said.

"We lost two men. But the battle is ongoing. The situation in the Oil Crescent remains under control."

The assault raised the prospect of a new escalation of violence around the ports, and put at risk a sharp boost to Libya's oil production achieved after the LNA took over four ports in September, ending a blockade at three of them.

Though Es Sider and Ras Lanuf have been reopened for exports, they were badly damaged in past fighting and are operating well below capacity.

It was not clear to what extent the BDB had gained control over the ports, or whether operations at the terminals had been affected.

"Haftar claims to control most of the eastern part of Libya around Benghazi," Oliver Miles, former British ambassador to Libya, told Al Jazeera.

"But, control is a loose word. He's been fighting for a long time to deal with them and it has taken a long time time to clear them up. He's repeatedly said they've dealt with the problem but they keep reuniting."

In response to the BDB advance, air raids were carried out in Ras Lanuf, Es Sidra, Ben Jawad and Harawa, Mismari added.

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A resident in Ras Lanuf said they heard fighter jets over the town at dawn on Saturday, followed by explosions.

Residents posted pictures of fires and damage to buildings apparently caused by the strikes.

Libya's oil production has recently been fluctuating around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), more than double its output last year but still well under the 1.6 million bpd the OPEC member was producing before a 2011 uprising.

The Benghazi Defence Brigades are composed partly of fighters who were ousted from Benghazi by the LNA.

That battle is linked to a wider conflict between political and armed factions based in eastern and western Libya. </s> BENGHAZI, Libya: Militias on Friday attacked Libya's main oil-production area in the east, prompting the forces of strongman Khalifa Haftar who control it to retaliate with air strikes, military sources said.

The attack was spearheaded by the Benghazi Defence Brigades, a coalition of mostly Islamist militias and armed groups, and was backed by tribal fighters and former petroleum installation guards.

They "advanced towards the oil crescent and are 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of the town of Nofliya," said Colonel Moftah al-Megarief, who heads an oil facilities guard controlled by Haftar.

Nofliya is on the edge of the North African country's strategic oil crescent, home to the main export terminals of Al-Sidra, Brega, Ras Lanuf and Zuwaytina which Haftar's forces seized in September last year.

"We are trying to repel them and the air force has carried out several sorties," Megarief said, declining to elaborate.

However, an officer on Haftar's staff told AFP that MiG-23 warplanes and Mi-35 attack helicopters bombarded a convoy of Benghazi Defence Brigades vehicles south of Nofliya.

"Several vehicles were destroyed," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Libya's oil-exporting region is bitterly contested between the country's internationally recognised and Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and a rival administration in the east backed by Haftar.

In December, the Benghazi Defence Brigades carried out a similar attack on the oil crescent, but were repelled by Haftar's forces.

And in January, powerful militias from the western city of Misrata had joined another such attack on the oil crescent.

Megarief said Friday's assault was launched from Al-Jufra air base in southern Libya.

Rocked by chaos since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya desperately needs to relaunch its oil exports, the backbone of its economy.

The GNA has struggled to impose its authority as it faces a multitude of battle-hardened fighters who took part in the uprising that ousted Gaddafi.

On Friday it released a statement saying it was not involved in the "military escalation" and had "not instructed any group" to try to retake the oil crescent.

However, the embattled government denounced the violence and warned of unspecified action "if clashes continue there or anywhere else" in Libya. </s> BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar took control of key oil ports in Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Brega on Sunday, said Ahmed al-Masmari, a spokesman for the forces.

But an official from the force that previously controlled the ports, the Petrol Facilities Guard, said there was still fighting at Ras Lanuf.

Masmari said clashes were continuing at another oil port, Zueitina, and around the nearby town of Ajdabiya. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Patrick Markey) </s> Forces loyal to renegade Libyan general Haftar claim they have liberated Qanfouda, a stronghold of Ansar al-Sharia (Al Jazeera)

Forces loyal to Libyan renegade general Khalifa Haftar have said that they had taken one of the last remaining strongholds of an al-Qaeda linked group in the eastern city of Benghazi. Haftar’s self-declared Libyan National Army (LNA) “liberated all of Qanfouda”, an area 15km west of the centre of Benghazi, spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmari posted on Facebook… </s> BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar have moved forces toward western Libya in a possible mission to “liberate the homeland from “terrorism”, officials said on Wednesday, suggesting Tripoli was a desirable destination.

The deployment and rhetoric is likely to alarm the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, whose Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj has been negotiating over a power-sharing deal with a parallel administration in the east that is allied to Haftar.

Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA) force controlling eastern Libya, did not say directly whether his force would move on Tripoli in western Libya controlled by the internationally recognized government opposing a parallel administration in the east.

But he said the LNA was gathering forces for a possible mission “to liberate the homeland from terrorism.”

“We expect the women of Tripoli to welcome the Libyan army like the women of Benghazi and Derna did,” he said, referring to two eastern cities which the LNA took by force.

He also called on young people in Tripoli to focus on the battle between LNA and Daesh, or Islamic State, in another hint that military action might be looming.

A video released by the LNA media office showed a convoy of armored vehicles and pickup trucks mounted with heavy guns on the road.

“In fulfillment of his (Haftar) orders, several military units moved to the western region to purge the remaining terrorist groups located in their last hideouts,” the LNA said in a statement with the video.

It gave no details but the area appears to be the coastal road linking the eastern city of Benghazi, the LNA main base, with Tripoli.

A resident in Ras Lanuf, an oil town located on the coastal road, said tanks and military convoys were seen heading westwards in the direction of Sirte.

Sirte is in central Libya controlled by a force from the western city of Mistrata allied to the Tripoli administration.

In January, the LNA, which is loyal to Haftar, started a campaign to take control of the south and its oilfields.

The United Nations is holding a conference this month in the southwestern city of Ghadames to discuss a political solution to prepare the country for elections and to avoid a military showdown. </s> (Hatha al-Youm | Iraq News )-Eastern Libyan forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar carried out four air strikes near the El Feel oilfield as a warning to a rival commander, a field engineer said on Saturday.It was the first military action by the eastern army since it banned all flights in southern Libya without its authorization on Friday.The strikes were directed at commander Ali Kennah, who was inside the compound at the time, the engineer told Reuters. Kennah is allied to the internationally recognized Tripoli government, while Haftar backs a parallel administration in the east.The fractured political climate has caused significant disruption to the country's oil industry.The Tripoli Government of National Accord (GNA), backed by the United Nations, said in a statement that the strike targeted a civilian plane that was trying to evacuate a number of wounded people from the oilfield to Tripoli.The strikes damaged the oilfield's infrastructure and its airport runway and "put civilian lives at risk", the statement added, without adding details of any casualties.State oil firm NOC, which runs the El Feel field with foreign partners, could not be immediately reached for comment.Haftar is a dominant figure in eastern Libya where his Libyan National Army group seized the second-largest city of Benghazi in 2017 by expelling Islamists and other fighters.Last month, his forces started an offensive in the south to fight militants and secure its oilfields, and on Wednesday made good on the promise by moving on the closed El Sharara field.His forces have occupied a pumping station some 20 km (12 miles) from the main El Sharara field but not the rest of the 315,000 barrels a day site, according to a field engineer.The El Feel field is located in the same southwestern region and is still producing crude, usually around 70,000 barrels a day.El Sharara was shut in December after tribesmen and state guards seized it.Kennah, the commander of the Sabha military zone who served under former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was appointed by Prime Minister Fayez Seraj last week. Fayez leads the GNA. </s> BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar launched attacks at ports in Libya's oil crescent on Sunday and clashed with guards who control the terminals, a guards spokesman and a resident said.

Petrol Facilities Guard spokesman Ali al-Hassi said Haftar's forces had attacked at Zueitina, Ras Lanuf, and Es Sider ports, as well as the nearby town of Ajdabiya, and clashes were continuing. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
The Benghazi Defense Brigades, an ally of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, claims to have captured five cities and two oil-production areas from forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar in the east of Libya.