CAIRO, June 18, 2018 (News Wires) - Libyan forces carried out airstrikes against a militia attacking key oil ports in the east, a spokesman said as Libya's national oil firm warned on Monday of further damage to oil infrastructure as well as environmental contamination in the north African country. A militia, led by Ibrahim Jadhran who opposes Libya's self-styled national army commanded by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, attacked the oil ports of Ras Lanuf and al-Sidr on Thursday forcing the National Oil Corporation to suspend exports and evacuate its employees. The airstrikes late Sunday targeted fighters loyal to Jadhran, who are trying to seize the oil terminals, said Ahmed al-Mesmari, a spokesman for the LNA. He said warplanes carried out airstrikes against "terrorist positions and gatherings in the operational military zone stretching from Ras Lanuf to the edge of the city of Sirte." Al-Mesmari called on residents in the oil crescent area to stay away from "areas where the enemy gathers, munition storages and sites with military vehicles." Jadhran said in a video circulated on social media last Thursday that he had formed an alliance to retake oil terminals. "Our aim is to overturn the injustice for our people over the past two years," he said.
