13 people killed in oil field attack in Libya

On February 4, Libyan officials said a group of unidentified gunmen attacked the country's Al-Mabruk oil field, killing 13 soldiers, including five foreigners.

Libyan Dawn fighters clash with the internationally recognized Libyan army in the al-Aqrabiyah area, 170km west of the capital Tripoli. (Source: AFP/VNA)

The victims included eight Libyans, three Filipinos and two Ghanaians, said Hakim Maazzab, head of security at Al-Mabruk. When the soldiers arrived at Al-Mabruk to assist security forces there, the gunmen had already taken control of the oil field.

Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) spokesman Mohamed al-Harari confirmed the attack occurred on the night of February 3 and that NOC had promptly evacuated staff to the city of Sirte, about 100km away.

The Al-Mabruk oil field is owned by the French company Total and operated by a NOC company, however at the time of the attack, no production was taking place at the field and only a small number of employees were present.

The NOC spokesman also confirmed that no employees of the Al-Mabruk mine were kidnapped by the attackers. It is not yet clear who was behind the incident, but a security spokesman said the perpetrators were militants from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Oil is Libya's main natural resource, with production once reaching 1.6 million barrels per day, accounting for more than 95% of the country's exports and 75% of its budget revenue.

However, since the Islamist alliance Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) attacked coastal oil ports, oil production has dropped to just 350,000 barrels per day in December.

Fajr Libya is currently occupying the capital Tripoli and establishing its own government, forcing the internationally recognized government of Libya to move its headquarters to the city of Al-Beida, 1,200km from the capital Tripoli./.

According to VNA