Libya army forces launch blitz to retake lost oil ports

TRIPOLI, Libya

Libya’s self-proclaimed national army, led by military commander Khalifa Haftar and backed by the country’s Tobruk-based parliament, launched a wide-ranging offensive on Tuesday aimed at retaking two strategic oil ports.

"Field-Marshal Khalifa Haftar has ordered his forces to advance on -- and capture -- the oil crescent region," read a statement issued by forces loyal to Haftar.

Libya’s strategic “oil crescent” stretches from the eastern city of Ras Lanuf to the north-central city of Sirte and down to the southern Jafrah region.

"Army forces are now engaged in an air, ground and sea offensive aimed at retaking the Ras Lanuf oil port," read the statement.

It went on to assert that the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB) and their allies -- with whom they are fighting for control of the region -- were in a “state of collapse”.

Earlier this month, BDB fighters captured Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, both of which are located in the oil crescent, along with additional territories.

The BDB was drawn up last summer with the aim of supporting the Shura Council of Benghazi -- comprised of revolutionaries who fought the Gaddafi regime in 2011 -- against forces loyal to Haftar.

Despite the army’s Tuesday assertions, the pro-BDB Bushra news agency said via Facebook that the BDB remained in control of the oil crescent, dismissing claims it had lost Ras Lanuf to pro-Haftar forces.

Last September, Haftar’s forces captured eastern Libya’s Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Brega and Zueitina oil ports.

The energy terminals at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf are two of Libya's largest, with a combined production capacity of some 600,000 barrels of oil per day.

Libya has been wracked by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years in power.

In the wake of the uprising, the country’s stark political divisions yielded two rival seats of government -- one in Tobruk and the other in Tripoli -- and gave rise to a host of competing militia groups.

In an effort to resolve the political deadlock, Libya’s rival governments signed a UN-backed agreement in late 2015 establishing a government of national unity.

The Tripoli-based unity government, however, has yet to apply its governing writ across the battle-scarred North African country.

*Reporting by Jihad Nasr; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg