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By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 18 January 2014:
Three soldiers have been killed in an attack on a supply column near the . . .[restrict]Sarir oilfield .
Saleh Mohammed, commanding officer for the army’s 25th Brigade, told the Libya Herald that the three men in his brigade were ambushed while returning to the Sarir oilfield from a supply run to the nearby oasis town of Jalu. He said that the attackers were from that area. He added that his unit had come under fire on other occasions from the same group.
Mohammed speculated that the gunmen could have been the same as those who had attacked the Sarir farm in a raid in late December.
The Sarir has been a lightning-rod for recent tensions in Kufra and its surrounding areas. A dawn raid by gunman on a Sarir farm project in late December saw one manager kidnapped and at least five attackers killed. Tebu demonstrators who had blockaded the Sarir oilfield in November, demanding greater minority recognition, only quit last week.
The National Army’s 25th Brigade is composed largely of Tebu troops. Among its responsibilities since April 2011 have been security at the Sarir and Messla oil fields oilfield as well as the Al-Shula oil compound.
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