Libya arrests five over drone attacks on oil complex

Authorities in western Libya have arrested five people, including foreigners, over a recent string of drone attacks on a major energy complex, the Tripoli-based government said Sunday.

The government said the group was part of a “sabotage cell” that also planned to attack a power station south of Tripoli and other vital facilities. It described the attacks as part of a coordinated campaign and said the arrests exposed a wider plot.

Authorities have not identified the detainees or their nationalities.

Last month, a large petrol reservoir in Zawiya caught fire during a drone attack on a major oil facility near Tripoli, Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation said. The reservoir is part of the country's second-largest oil refinery, which has a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.

Other drone attacks followed at the Zawiya complex, about 45 kilometres west of Tripoli. The National Oil Corporation said another attack on fuel tanks outside Tripoli was thwarted on Thursday.

Libya has Africa's largest oil reserves, but it has faced violence and instability since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Two governments are vying for power: the UN-recognised administration in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and an eastern rival backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.