Drone strikes on energy facilities in and around Zawiya, in western Libya, and the killing of a senior eastern military intelligence official in Benghazi have raised concerns about renewed instability, according to security officials and analysts cited by The Media Line. No group has claimed responsibility for either set of events, and no evidence connecting them has emerged.
Drone strikes on Libyan energy sites and assassination of eastern intelligence chief renew instability fears
Drone strikes on energy facilities in and around Zawiya, in western Libya, and the killing of a senior eastern military intelligence official in Benghazi have raised concerns about renewed instability, according to security officials and analysts cited by The Media Line. No group has claimed responsibility for either set of events, and no evidence connecting them has emerged.
Maj.-Gen. Fawzi al-Mansouri, head of military intelligence for Khalifa Haftar's eastern-based forces, was killed in Benghazi on Monday night, August 10, when an explosive device detonated at his vehicle in the Hawari district, according to security officials and the eastern General Command. Al-Mansouri was buried the following day at a funeral attended by senior military figures, including Saddam Haftar, one of Khalifa Haftar's sons. A security committee has opened an investigation, but authorities have not publicly identified a suspect or motive.
Drone strikes began targeting facilities in Zawiya on August 9. The following night, a drone hit a gasoline-storage tank at the Zawiya oil complex, west of Tripoli, causing a major fire and the tank's collapse. The tank held approximately 4.5 million liters of gasoline when it was struck, according to Libya's National Oil Corporation. Further drone attacks continued into August 11. The National Oil Corporation said firefighters had contained the blazes and that the refinery itself was not damaged, though production was briefly disrupted. It warned that further attacks could force it to suspend operations. The complex includes Libya's largest operating refinery, capable of processing approximately 120,000 barrels per day, and is connected to the Sharara oil field.
On August 12, another drone struck the South Zawiya electricity substation, setting it ablaze and causing widespread outages. Libya's state-run General Electricity Company said more than 700 megawatts of the nearby power plant's 1,300-megawatt capacity remained unavailable. US energy company GE suspended work at the power station and withdrew its technical teams because of the security situation.
Libya has been divided between rival centers of authority for more than a decade. Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's Government of National Unity operates from Tripoli and is internationally recognized, while authorities backed by Haftar's forces control the east. A 2020 ceasefire ended the last major nationwide war but did not produce unified political, military, or security institutions. Zawiya is divided among armed groups with shifting alliances, and tensions have grown between Dbeibah's government and forces associated with Mohamed Bahroun, a powerful commander in the city.
The violence coincides with renewed US efforts to encourage cooperation between Libya's rival authorities. Massad Boulos, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump for Arab and African affairs, has promoted an initiative focused on institutional reunification and economic cooperation, meeting Haftar, Dbeibah, and other political and military figures across Libya. Published accounts describe the initiative as offering energy investment and economic development as incentives. Many details of the plan have not been made public.
- The source does not identify the perpetrators of the drone strikes on the Zawiya energy facilities or establish a motive.
- The source does not identify a suspect or motive in the assassination of Maj.-Gen. Fawzi al-Mansouri.
- The source does not establish whether the Zawiya drone strikes and al-Mansouri's assassination are connected.
- The source does not state the current status of the security committee investigation into al-Mansouri's killing beyond saying it has been opened.
- The source does not specify which details of the Boulos initiative have been made public versus withheld.
- The source does not provide a response or statement from Haftar's eastern authorities regarding either the drone strikes or the assassination investigation.
- The source does not state the current operational status of the Zawiya refinery following the attacks.
Read the original at The Jerusalem Post