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Libya Dawn militia captures country's largest oil port

December 15, 2014 at 12:45 pm

The Libya Dawn militia today announced that it had seized control of Al-Sidra oil terminal in the east of the country, Libya’s official news agency reported.

Meanwhile, at least 17 people were killed in clashes with renegade General Khalifa Haftar’s forces near Zuwarah city, along the border with Tunisia.

A military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Thirteen members of the Libya Dawn militia were killed while more than 10 others were injured in an aerial bombing at a security post that was controlled by the militia in the town of Abu Kemash, west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, near the Ras Jedir border crossing with Tunisia.”

He said: “A fighter jet under the command of General Khalifa Haftar’s forces carried out the airstrike against the militia to pave the way for their ground forces to control the Ras Jedir border crossing with Tunisia.” He pointed out that “ground units belonging to Haftar’s forces clashed with the Libya Dawn militia in that region.”

According to the Libyan military official the Tunisian authorities temporarily closed the crossing in case of any emergency.

General Haftar’s forces claimed responsibility for the operation, at a time when Air Force Commander Brigadier Saqr Al-Jeroshi said: “We have to return the terminal to the government forces’ control as a prelude to recapture the capital Tripoli from the grip of the Islamic militia.”

In the meantime, clashes erupted between government forces and the Libya Dawn militia which recaptured the Al-Hilal area in eastern Libya, the country’s richest oil region.

An official at the oil installations guard service said that clashes broke out near the Al-Sidra oil terminal, the largest in the country.

The Libya Dawn militia announced that the General National Congress had commissioned it to progress towards the oil rich region.