Libyan government says it needs help from foreign crews to prevent 6m barrels of oil from spilling into Mediterranean

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Libya has appealed for foreign firefighters to tackle a massive blaze at its largest oil port started by rocket fire from a militia attack.

Rockets from Libya Dawn, an alliance of Islamist and Misratan militias, set fire to one of the giant storage tanks at Es Sider on Thursday and the blaze has now engulfed five tanks sending smoke and flames several hundred feet into the sky.

Amid fears 6m barrels of oil stored at the port may spill into the Mediterranean, government spokesman Ali al-Hassi called for foreign firefighting crews to be flown to Libya. “We are trying to extinguish it but our capacities are limited,” he said.

But foreign powers are nervous about deploying fire crews to a battlefield: Es Sider has become the focus of fighting between the recognised government, which has fled to the eastern city of Tobruk, and Dawn militias, who have established their own rival government in Tripoli.

Libya Dawn has been trying to capture the port for two weeks, with the rocket attack coming during an assault by three speed boats repelled by government units.

In retaliation for the speedboat attack, government jets on Sunday launched air strikes against Misrata, Libya’s third city, hitting the airport and port area.

An Airbus from Turkish Airlines, the last foreign airline still operating Libya routes, was on the tarmac when bombs struck close to the control tower, missing the runway. A spokesman for Libya Dawn said the Istanbul flight was later able to take off safely.

Visiting Cairo, Libya’s foreign minister, Mohamed Dayri, appealed for western help, both to tackle the oil blaze and combat what he called “extremists” battling government forces.

“We, as Libyans, are concerned. But the Arab world and the international community should be too because of the desire of these extremist terrorist groups to reach oil resources,” said Dayri.

Libya Dawn insist they are not terrorists, but revolutionaries, committed to the ideals of the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. They seized control of Tripoli after June elections, accusing the elected government of being sympathetic to Gaddafi.

The bombing of Misrata, home to one of only two airports in Libya Dawn control, is seen as an escalation of a war that the United Nations said last week has cost several hundred lives and displaced 400,000 people.