Libya dismantles cell behind attacks on oil, power facilities

TRIPOLI – Libya’s Government of National Unity said on Sunday it had dismantled a cell involved in attacks by explosive-laden drones on oil and electricity facilities in Tripoli and the western city of Zawiya, saying investigations had uncovered a wider and interconnected plot targeting critical infrastructure across the country.

The Defence Ministry’s intelligence and security operation led to the arrest of five Libyan and foreign suspects, the government said in a statement, without disclosing the nationalities of the foreigners.

The ministry said the arrests and subsequent investigations had revealed additional targets that had been included in the alleged plan, including a power station south of Tripoli, as well as other vital facilities and political, security and military figures.

The authorities said the suspects’ confessions had helped investigators identify further elements of the alleged plot and establish that the attacks were not isolated incidents.

Available information showed that the incidents were “not isolated or random acts, but rather part of a broad and interconnected sabotage plot involving multiple parties, tools and objectives,” the government said.

The plot “systematically targeted infrastructure, energy resources and oil and electricity facilities,” it added.

The authorities said investigations were continuing to establish the full extent of the network, identify those behind it and determine possible links between its members and other parties involved in planning or supporting the attacks.

The government said the Defence Ministry had also prevented “other plots that were close to being carried out”, including plans to attack a power station south of Tripoli and other vital installations.

“Dismantling this cell is not the end of the operation but the beginning of uncovering all the threads and extensions of this plot,” the government said.

It vowed to continue pursuing remaining suspects and identify those who planned, financed, supported, facilitated or incited the attacks, as well as those who provided cover for them.

The arrests come amid repeated attacks and disruptions affecting Libya’s critical infrastructure, particularly its oil facilities, which have remained vulnerable to political, security and technical pressures since the country’s conflict and institutional divisions deepened following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Zawiya area has been at the centre of particular concern because of the concentration of strategic oil and electricity infrastructure there. The city lies about 50 km (31 miles) west of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast and close to Libya’s border with Tunisia.

Several explosive-laden drones targeted fuel tanks at the Zawiya oil complex last month, according to the authorities. One of the tanks was hit and completely burned out, raising concerns that attacks could increasingly shift towards Libya’s critical energy infrastructure.

During the first half of August, facilities at the Zawiya oil complex were targeted in unidentified attacks involving remotely detonated explosive drones, damaging oil infrastructure. Power generation and water facilities in the city were also targeted in similar attacks during the same period.

Other attacks targeted an oil storage tank and a power station in Tripoli but caused no damage.

Zawiya, which hosts Libya’s largest operating refinery, has also experienced repeated armed clashes linked to struggles over influence, control and interests connected to the informal economy, including fuel smuggling.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya has warned that renewed fighting in Zawiya poses risks not only to civilians but also to strategic infrastructure and the wider Libyan economy. Previous clashes have reached areas around the oil refinery.

The security concerns intensified in August as the threat expanded from conventional armed confrontations to the use of explosive drones against energy installations.

The attacks have raised concerns beyond physical damage to facilities, with disruption to oil and fuel infrastructure posing potential risks to supplies of fuel and electricity across western Libya.

The security situation also prompted General Electric to withdraw its technical teams from the Zawiya power station, while Libyan authorities warned of the wider consequences of continued attacks on energy facilities.