The clashes trapped residents of their houses and brought on fires on the nation’s second largest oil refinery, metropolis officers mentioned.
The combating within the coastal metropolis which is about 47 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli, pitted gunmen loyal to the Shurafaa ethnic group in opposition to warlord Mohamed Kushlaf, in response to native media. Kushalf was sanctioned by the U.N. Safety Council in 2018 for his alleged involvement in human trafficking.
It wasn’t instantly clear what triggered the clashes however they don’t seem to be unusual in western Libya, which is managed by an array of lawless militias and armed teams allied with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s authorities.
Oil-rich Libya has been divided for years between rival administrations within the east and west. It plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising-turned-civil battle, which toppled and later killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Amid the chaos, militias grew in wealth and energy, significantly in Tripoli and the western a part of the nation.
The combating on Sunday closed a serious coastal highway linking Zawiya to different cities in western Libya and courses had been suspended.
“Many households are trapped of their houses. Bullets are being fired indiscriminately, hitting homes and buildings,” resident Ahmed Abu Hussein mentioned by cellphone. He mentioned the combating occurred in a number of areas throughout the town, together with densely populated quarters, inflicting panic and terror amongst civilians.
The clashes additionally brought on “extreme harm” to storage tanks within the Zawiya oil refinery, the Libyan Nationwide Oil Corp. mentioned.
Bullets hit oil tanks, resulting in “harmful” fires, it mentioned, including that firefighters managed to regulate the fires and fuel leakage as clashes raged across the refinery.
The corporate, which runs Libya’s oil business, declared emergency and pressure majeure, a authorized manoeuvre that releases it of its contractual obligations due to extraordinary circumstances.
The Libyan Observer newspaper posted video on X of what it mentioned was the refinery on hearth in a single day.
In August, clashes between two closely armed militias in Tripoli killed at the very least 9 individuals and wounded 16 others.
Libya is presently ruled by Dbeibah’s authorities in Tripoli and by the administration of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad within the east, which is allied with forces of highly effective navy commander Khalifa Hifter.
