Libya’s foreign minister has urged the international community to launch airstrikes on his country, saying that Islamic State could seize oil wells as it turns the country into “a rear base”.
Mohammed al-Dairi, whose government is in internal exile in Tobruk, in the east of the country, warned that the situation was serious.
“On Saturday, there was a call from their leaders in Iraq and Syria to reinforce their ranks in Libya. They want to make Libya a rear base,” he told AFP. “They have not yet seized oil fields, but we fear they might come to control several wells . . . We are hoping for aerial support for the Libyan armed forces on the ground.”
Echoing comments made on Monday by General Khalifa Hiftar, his army chief, Mr Dairi renewed calls for the lifting of a UN-arms embargo in place since the 2011 revolt which toppled Colonel Gaddafi.
“After 2011, Libya was abandoned to its fate,” he said. “People are dying, are crucified, are disinterred from their graves, are burned alive. Libyans don’t understand why the international community doesn’t wake up to these dangers.”
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Government forces said that they had failed to stop the influx of foreign fighters from entering the country because they had only obsolete weaponry and battered aircraft.
“We have limits because of our limited capabilities,” General Hiftar told a press conference in Jordan, begging for foreign assistance.