Libya: Oil Storage Tanks Burn After ISIS Attacks Ports

Libya: Oil Storage Tanks Burn After ISIS Attacks Ports

Attacks by Islamic State militants on Libya’s biggest oil ports have started fires that have spread to five large oil storage tanks, Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the Petroleum Facilities Guards, said Wednesday. Mr. Hassi said that the facilities’ guards were still in control of the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports, but that clashes were continuing. At least nine guards and 30 militants have been killed, he said. Libya is split between political factions and armed groups competing for power and oil wealth. The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has taken advantage of the chaos to expand its presence in Libya. Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of the National Oil Corporation, said he hoped the violence would “lead political leaders on all sides in Libya to understand the magnitude of the threat we face” and “to unite against this common enemy, not tomorrow or next week, but now.”