Conflicting reports are circulating about the reasons for the forced closure of the state Ahlia Cement company's plants in Zliten and Khoms.
Some reports say Force 112, affiliated with the Joint Operations Force, and Force 77, closed the headquarters of the National Cement Company, along with the Libda, Al-Marqab, and Arabiya Zliten cement plants, expelling employees and preventing them from entering.
These reports say this action came after the cement company's chairman and CEO refused to cease reserving and dispensing quantities of cement for their own private companies, amounting to approximately 60 truckloads or more daily.
That is, due to suspicions of corruption related to cement distribution operations by management.
The opposing viewpoint is that an armed group from Misrata stormed the headquarters of the cement company, in a move aimed at seizing all cement order reservations and selling them in the market to citizens at prices exceeding five times their original price.
The state cement manufacturing sector in Libya has been the subject of deep corruption for decades. Locally produced cement is often retailed at the same price or even more than imported cement.