Firefighters worked Tuesday to extinguish the lingering flames from a massive fire at Libya's Zawiya oil refinery, ignited by a drone strike that hit a gasoline storage tank the previous day. The incident, which caused no reported casualties, is the latest in a series of attacks targeting the nation's critical energy infrastructure.
The drone struck a gasoline tank at the refinery, located about 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli, on Monday. The resulting blaze burned through the night. The affected tank, which held 4.5 million liters of fuel, collapsed. The National Oil Corporation declared a state of maximum emergency at the facility. During efforts to combat the fire, another drone struck near a different oil tank but caused no damage or casualties.
No group has claimed responsibility for the strike on the refinery, which is home to Libya's largest oil refinery, an export terminal, and a power plant. The attacks come as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is scheduled to visit Libya.
Over the weekend, drone strikes also hit a fuel tank and a desalination plant linked to the Zawiya oil facilities, damaging the fuel tank, according to the oil company.
Separately, a senior military officer was killed Monday evening in a car bomb attack in the eastern city of Benghazi. Maj. Gen. Fawzy al-Mansouri, director of military intelligence for the self-styled Libyan National Army, died when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near his car. The Libyan National Army is allied with one of the country's two rival governments, which controls eastern and southern Libya.
Libya has been beset by chaos and division since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country remains divided between rival administrations in the west and east, each supported by armed groups and foreign governments. The attacks highlight the persistent fragility of security in the oil-rich nation.