Car bomb kills Haftar intelligence chief as drones hit Libya oil facilities

Brigadier Fawzi Al Mansouri, the chief of military intelligence for eastern Libya's leader Khalifa Haftar, was assassinated by a car bomb outside his home in Benghazi on Monday evening, according to security sources. The identity of the perpetrators and the type of explosive device remain unclear. Simultaneously, a series of drone attacks struck critical oil facilities in western Libya, highlighting the nation's growing security instability.

At Zawiya's refinery, around 40 kilometers west of Tripoli, a drone strike targeted a fuel storage tank containing approximately 4.5 million liters of gasoline. Thick black smoke and flames engulfed the facility, with authorities working to control the blaze and prevent it from spreading. The National Oil Corporation later reported another drone attack on an oil blending and filling plant associated with the refinery.

These incidents follow a string of attacks on Zawiya's oil infrastructure, with three such strikes occurring over the past two days. While no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Libyan authorities have yet to publicly identify a suspected perpetrator. The Zawiya refinery, Libya's largest operating refinery with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day, is linked to the 300,000-barrel-per-day Sharara oilfield.

The drone strikes threaten the country's unity efforts and domestic fuel supplies, as Libya continues to grapple with a decade-long political and military division following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Qaddafi. The country is split between rival eastern and western factions, with a 2020 ceasefire halting major warfare, but armed groups and competing administrations retain influence.

Haftar's Libyan National Army controls eastern and southern Libya, aligned with authorities based in Benghazi, while the UN-recognized Government of National Unity, headquartered in Tripoli, governs much of western Libya. Last month, the two sides met in Sirte, declaring a unified national army as the only path to lasting stability.

This gathering is part of the US-led Boulos Initiative, which offers American oil investment in exchange for unity. The proposal includes keeping Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, leader of the Government of National Unity, in office while elevating Haftar to a senior national executive role, potentially as the head of a unified presidential structure.