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TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Several gunmen on Monday attacked Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in the capital, Tripoli, killing at least two staff members, a security official said.
In the first such attack on top leaders of the Libyan oil industry, two of the gunmen were also killed and at least 10 NOC staff were injured, officials said.
Security forces said they have regained control of the iconic glass building in the city center.
The attack took place less than a week after a fragile truce halted violent clashes between rival armed groups in Tripoli, the latest outbreak of violence in Libya that rocked Moamer. Gaddafi in 2011.
Armed groups regularly block oil fields to make demands, but the NOC's headquarters has so far been spared by violence.
The NOC provides most of the income of the Libyan state and, along with the central bank of Tripoli, is one of the only state institutions that still functions well in the midst of chaos.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's attack. But the Interior Ministry said in a statement that the first elements revealed that the gunmen belonged to the Islamic State, which had already carried out attacks in Tripoli and other Libyan cities.
Gunshots broke out in the morning as security forces allied with the Tripoli-based government arrived.
"The death toll is now two dead among NOC staff and two attackers," said Ahmad Ben Salim, spokesman for the Special Deterrent Force (Rada), one of the most powerful of Tripoli.
Security forces broke the windows so that staff could escape and several people were injured by shards of glass, witnesses said. NOC President Mustafa Sanalla and his office boss were seen leaving the building.
OIL PRODUCTION
Libya is divided between rival governments and military factions based in the east and west of the country since 2014, causing a political stalemate and economic crisis.
However, the NOC continued to operate relatively normally in Libya, which relies on oil exports for most of its revenues. Oil production was hit by attacks on oil facilities and dams, although last year it partially recovered to about one million barrels a day.
Islamist militants have dormant cells in northern cities as well as mobile units in the southern desert of Libya, according to Libyan and Western officials.
In May, the Islamic State claimed a deadly attack on the offices of the National Electoral Commission in Tripoli. The group also claimed an attack in 2015 on the Corinthia hotel, an iconic place in Tripoli.
The NOC attack came one day after the United Nations declared that major armed factions had agreed to freeze their positions to extend the ceasefire.
Report by Ahmed Elumami; Additional report by Ali Abdelaty; Written by Aidan Lewis and Ulf Laessing; Edited by Toby Chopra
