TRIPOLI, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between the Libyan army and terrorists in the oil crescent region have killed 34 people in 48 hours, a military source said.
The killed people include 14 army soldiers and at least 20 terrorists, an army officer told Xinhua on late Friday.
"The number of terrorists killed may be larger because there were estimated dozens of terrorists in the locations that were hit by an air strike this evening. They were transported quickly and we only found the remains of the wreckage of their armed vehicles," the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A terrorist group, called Benghazi Defense Brigades and allied with Ibrahim Jathran, a wanted ex-chief of the oil installation guards service, on Thursday launched an attack on the Libyan oil crescent region and clashed with the army forces there.
The state-owned National Oil Corporation evacuated all employees from the area, declared a state of force majeure in two large oil ports, and announced that the attack caused losses of 240,000 barrels of oil.
The country's largest oil ports are located in the oil crescent region, which is some 500 km east of the capital Tripoli,
The UN Mission in Libya condemned the attack, warning that "this dangerous escalation puts Libya's economy in jeopardy and risks igniting a widespread confrontation."
