Two die in attack on Libya oil company
Armed men on Monday stormed the headquarters of Libya’s National Oil Company in Tripoli, killing at least two people, officials said, as witnesses spoke of hearing a blast and gunfire.
The attack targeted the country’s vital oil sector, repeatedly disrupted by violence since a 2011 uprising against toppled late dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Witnesses said the building near the city centre had caught fire and was rapidly surrounded by security services, who evacuated its staff, including its chair, Mustafa Sanallah.
Two people were killed and 10 wounded, the health ministry said.
Sanallah confirmed to the Libya 218 news channel that staff members had been killed and others wounded, with some in a serious condition.
“Security services are looking for gunmen in the building, but our priority is to evacuate civilians stuck inside,” Ahmed Ben Salem, a spokesperson for the Deterrence Force, a militia that acts as Tripoli’s police force, said.
The Deterrence Force labelled the incident a terrorist attack and posted on its Facebook page photos it said showed the remains of suicide bombers.
An oil company official, who asked not to be named, said masked gunmen had exchanged fire with guards and attacked the firm’s headquarters.
“I jumped out of the window with other colleagues, and then we heard an explosion,” the official said.
No group has so far claimed the attack.
Early in September, days of clashes between rival armed groups in Tripoli left at least 63 people dead before a fragile UN-backed ceasefire took hold.
The attack on the oil company headquarters comes four months after suicide bombers struck the headquarters of Libya’s electoral commission, killing 14 in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
IS was ousted by government forces and allied militias in December 2016, but has continued to carry out attacks.
Libya’s vital oil sector has been repeatedly disrupted by violence since the 2011 Natobacked rebellion that toppled Gaddafi. –