Libya's oil terminals surface as new battlefronts
The contested oil facilities between rival armed groups lie in central Libya also called the oil crescent and whoever controls it holds sway in the country.
Oil port of Es Sider, Libya.
Libya's oil terminals have become the new front lines as rival forces remain engaged in fierce battles.
Fighters loyal to Libya's brigadier general Khalifa Haftar — who leads the so called Libyan National Army based in the eastern city of Tobruk — have the upper hand.
Earlier this month, a rival group known as the Benghazi Defence Brigades had temporarily seized the ports and handed them over to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.
Rocked by chaos since the overthrow and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya desperately needs to relaunch its oil exports, the backbone of its economy.
The GNA has struggled to impose its authority as it faces a multitude of battle-hardened fighters who took part in the uprising that ousted Gaddafi.
The oil facilities lie in central Libya in an area called the oil crescent and whoever controls it holds sway in the country.
TRT World's Clinton Nagoor has more on the story.
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