Officials in Libya have confirmed that an armed group has seized control of one of the country’s largest oilfields. Local gunmen were reported to have stormed the facilities at El Sharara, in the southern region of Fezzan, on Saturday.
The militiamen recently threatened to occupy the site if the authorities didn’t provide more development funds for their impoverished area.
The Libyan National Oil Corporation said the oilfield’s seizure would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels of production every day. It demanded that the occupation end immediately.
