Firefighters in western Libya battled a huge blaze Tuesday caused by a drone strike on an oil facility a day earlier, as the Mediterranean coastal town came under a series of drone attacks targeting vital oil installations.
The drone strikes continued Tuesday, hitting the town’s power plant and oil refinery, Libya’s state-run National Oil Corporation said.
The attacks highlighted the fragile security situation surrounding Libya’s critical infrastructure. In the eastern city of Benghazi, meanwhile, a car bomb killed a senior military officer affiliated with a self-styled military force on Monday, in the latest bombing to hit the conflict-ridden North African country.
No group has claimed responsibility for either the drone attacks in Zawiya, about 47 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli, or the bombing in Benghazi.
The first drone strike Monday sparked a major fire at a gasoline-storage tank at the refinery. The blaze continued through the night and into Tuesday afternoon, according to the Civil Defense agency. Health authorities reported no casualties.
Local media footage showed huge flames and fireballs erupting from the storage tank, sending thick black and orange smoke into the sky as firefighters used what appeared to be foam or water to battle the fire.
While firefighters were dealing with the blaze, another drone struck near a key oil tank but caused no casualties, the National Oil Corporation said. The tank, which contained 4.5 million liters of fuel when it was hit, collapsed, prompting the company to declare a state of maximum emergency at the facility.
On Tuesday, two drones struck the town’s power plant. One damaged the facility’s firefighting system, while the other landed near its main fuel-storage area and started a fire. The national oil company said firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control and no one was injured.
Zawiya’s oil infrastructure, which includes Libya’s largest refinery, an export terminal and a power plant, has frequently come under attack. Over the weekend, the national oil company said drones struck a fuel tank and a desalination plant connected to the oil facilities, damaging the tank.
By late Tuesday, the National Oil Corporation said all the fires had been extinguished.
The latest attacks come amid rising tensions between Libya’s western government and warlord Mohamed Bahroun, who controls Zawiya. Much of western Libya remains under the control of local militias that are loosely aligned with Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah’s government in Tripoli.
Jalel Harchaoui, an analyst affiliated with the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the warlord has been increasingly cornered by the government and that his forces “are likely to resort to desperate measures.”
The bombing in Benghazi on Monday evening killed a senior officer serving under powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter.
Maj. Gen. Fawzy al-Mansouri, director of military intelligence for Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army, was killed when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near his car in the Sayyida Aisha neighborhood of Benghazi, the LNA said.
The LNA is allied with one of Libya’s two rival administrations, which controls much of the country’s eastern and southern regions.
Libya has remained largely unstable since the 2011 uprising that developed into a civil war, ultimately overthrowing and later leading to the death of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
The prolonged turmoil allowed militias to expand their wealth and influence, particularly in Tripoli and western Libya.
The country has for years been divided between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by armed groups and foreign governments. Dbeibah’s government currently governs the west, while Prime Minister Ossama Hammad’s administration controls the east.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is scheduled to visit Libya this week, with plans to travel to both Tripoli and Benghazi.