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A drone struck a fuel tank at Libya’s Zawiya oil refinery in western Libya on August 8, causing a leak but no injuries or fire.
In a statement, the Zawiya Oil Refining Company said the drone hit the wall of an untreated naphtha tank early in the morning, creating two holes and causing naphtha to leak from the tank.
The company added that its personnel contained the incident and stopped the leak, noting that no fire broke out and no one was injured.
The refinery expressed concern over the presence of military equipment within its premises, warning that it poses a serious risk to lives, property and the surrounding environment. It called on all parties to keep the refinery and its facilities away from clashes and armed activities, stressing the strategic importance and sensitivity of its operations.
Video footage from the scene showed the wreckage of what appeared to be a first-person-view suicide quadcopter. This indicate that the attack was launched from a nearby area.
Just four days earlier, several people were reported killed and injured in clashes between the First Support Force, led by Mohamed Bahroun, also known as “al-Far”, and the 103rd Battalion, led by Othman al-Lahab, in Zawiya and the nearby city of Surman amid reports of a jailbreak.
Al-Far and al-Lahab are among the most prominent armed leaders in western Libya. Their factions are supposed to be integrated within the Government of National Unity (GNU) based in the capital, Tripoli.
At the time of the clashes, Zawiya Oil Refining Company called on employees in unsafe areas not to report to work, declaring a day off.
Zawiya has witnessed several rounds of armed clashes in recent months that left people dead and injured, and damaged vital facilities.
Libya plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country is now split between the GNU in the west and a rival government based in Benghazi in the east, backed by the House of Representatives and the LNA.
While the east has long been stable under the control of the LNA, the west remains unstable as the GNU continues to rely on rival armed factions unified only by name.
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