Libya hits 7 oil tankers of warlord Khalifa Haftar

ANKARA

The Libyan military on Monday conducted strikes on seven oil tankers belonging to militias loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar.

The tankers were hit in an airstrike in the Al Qaryat region, 400 kilometers (248 miles) south of the capital Tripoli, according to a statement by the press center of the Libyan Army-led Operation Rage of Volcano.

The tankers were en route to the strategic city of Tarhuna to reach Haftar's militia.

Tarhuna is a major focal point for Haftar's militias in their onslaught against Tripoli, as well as for their supply lines from the Al-Jufra airbase.

The Libyan Army has recently made gains against Haftar's militias, which are supported by France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Following the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led political deal. Since April 2019, the government has been under attack by Haftar's forces, based in eastern Libya, and more than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz