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       Libyan Unity Government Condemns Attack Near Eastern Oil Terminals

   by Reuters

   Libya's U.N.-backed unity government condemned an attack by a
   newly-formed militia group on eastern military forces close to key oil
   facilities, as clashes resumed on Sunday for a second day.

   Fighting erupted south of the coastal town of Ajdabiya on Saturday
   between military units loyal to Libya's eastern government and a group
   calling itself the Benghazi Defense Forces. At least three people were
   killed and 10 wounded, military spokesman Akram Bu Haliqa said.

   The Benghazi Defense Forces is largely composed of fighters pushed back
   earlier this year by brigades loyal to the eastern government commander
   Khalifa Haftar. Haftar has been waging a campaign for two years in
   Benghazi against Islamists, including some loyal to Islamic State, and
   other opponents.

   The condemnation by the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA)
   is significant because some in the east suspect the GNA - whose
   leadership has itself been divided - of siding with Islamist-leaning
   militias.

   The fighting near Ajdabiya, close to three oil terminals and north of
   major oil fields, risks opening a new front in the conflict between
   forces that backed competing governments set up in Tripoli and the east
   in 2014.

   Since March, the GNA has been seeking to replace the rival parliaments
   and governments and integrate armed groups, including forces loyal to
   Haftar, into national security forces.

   But the eastern parliament has held back from endorsing the new
   government, accusing it of legitimizing militias in western Libya
   whilst undermining the eastern military.

   "The Presidential Council (of the GNA) strongly condemns this criminal
   act and holds the leaders and members of these militias fully
   responsible," said a statement published on the Presidential Council's
   Facebook page on Sunday.

   "These militias are attacking to assist the remnants of the Islamic
   State terrorist organization in Benghazi and Ajdabiya which have faded
   and had their strength sapped by the strikes by our brave military."

   Clashes erupted again early on Sunday, a resident said.

   Armed groups in Libya have remained highly fragmented in the political
   turmoil that followed the toppling of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

   Islamic State established a presence in several parts of the country
   from 2014, and has been active between Benghazi and the militants
   group's coastal stronghold of Sirte, about 380 km (240 miles) to the
   west.

   In recent weeks, however, the ultra-hardline group has retreated into
   the center of Sirte after GNA-aligned forces advanced from the western
   city of Misrata.

   The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), a separate force that controls
   the oil terminals near Ajdabiya and is also aligned with the GNA, has
   pushed Islamic State back to the east of Sirte.

   A PFG spokesman said the fresh outbreak of fighting did not immediately
   threaten oil facilities, but the PFG was ready to protect them if
   necessary.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/libyan-unity-government-condemns-attack-near-eastern-oil-terminals/3382726.html