\n A force led by Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar said Saturday it had carried out a \"warning\" air strike near an oil field in the country's south.\n<\/p>\n
\n Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army targeted the Al-Fil oil field 750 kilometres (465 miles) southwest of Tripoli, where a civilian plane was preparing to take off for the capital.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pro-LNA media quoted military officials saying it was a \"warning strike\" which had not caused any damage.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the country's UN-backed unity government said the plane was carrying wounded people and called the strike a \"terrorist act\" and a \"crime against humanity\".\n<\/p>\n
\n It did not give further details on the identity of those on board.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Tripoli-based administration said it would inform the UN Security Council of the \"grave violation\" of international law.\n<\/p>\n
\n Haftar, whose force already controls much of eastern Libya, backs a rival administration.\n<\/p>\n
\n His force in mid-January announced the start of an offensive intended to \"purge the south of terrorists and criminal groups\", including rebels from Chad.\n<\/p>\n
\n It warned earlier this week that \"any landing or take-off from airports in the south is prohibited\" without its authorisation.\n<\/p>\n
\n The LNA said Wednesday it had seized one of the country's biggest oil fields, around 900 kilometres south of Tripoli, without a fight.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Al-Sharara field had been shut down for nearly two months by armed groups, which complain of marginalisation by Libya's Tripoli-based unity government.\n<\/p>\n
\n The LNA's offensive has stirred political and ethnic tensions in the marginalised region, marked by bloody struggles since the fall and killing of Moamer Kadhafi in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A force led by Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar said Saturday it had carried out a \"warning\" air strike near an oil field in the country's south. Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army targeted the Al-Fil oil field 750 kilometres (465 miles) southwest of Tripoli, where a civilian plane was preparing to take off for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-40253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n