Libya’s UN-backed government on Wednesday ordered a group of loyalists to take control of oil facilities that have been at the centre of fight between rival militias in the past few days.
In a move set to stoke conflict in the war-torn country, the Presidency Council led by Fayez Serraj said that government instructed the Oil Facilities Guards to take over installations in the so-called Oil Crescent region in eastern Libya in order to ensure crude production and exports there.
“The mission of the Oil Facilities Guards will be limited to guarding these installations and facilitating operations of the [state-run] National Oil Corporation,” the council added in a Facebook statement.
It is not clear yet how the takeover will pan out in the volatile region.
The announcement came shortly after an elected parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk withdrew its backing for a UN-brokered peace deal that gave birth to the Serraj administration, which is based in the capital, Tripoli.
On Tuesday, the self-styled militia, Benghazi Defence Brigades, seized two terminals in a major attack in the Oil Crescent region from rival forces led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by the Tobruk-based parliament.
The Tripoli administration distanced itself from the attack.
In September 2016, Haftar’s forces captured the terminals, a step that later allowed the oil authorities in the OPEC country to restart some of them for crude exports.
Libya has descended into anarchy since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi.
