TRIPOLI, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army, led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar, on Tuesday surrounded a group of militants suspected to be Islamic State (IS) terrorists near central Jufra district.
According to the eastern-based Libyan news agency, the army's oil fields security operation chamber revealed it was surrounding an IS-suspected group who attacked an oil field near Jufra, some 650 km southeast of the capital Tripoli.
The operation chamber announced state of alert after receiving information about a mobilization of IS militants in an area far from the oil fields.
Jufra district is located in central Libya and consists of five small towns. It also contains Zalla basin, an important area with a number of major oil fields.
"The armed forces of the operation chamber are fully prepared and ready to face any threat or attack on the area and the surrounding fields," said Col. Yousef Abdulgader Saeed, commander of the operation chamber.
IS affiliates are mostly active in the areas surrounding Jufra all the way to southern Libya due to the nature of rugged desert.
In the past few years, IS terrorists have launched a number of attacks on oil fields in Zalla basin.
