27 December 2014 – The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) strongly condemns the renewed attacks on Libya’s oil installations, which reportedly set ablaze storage tanks in the Sidra oil terminal, and calls for the immediate halt to these attacks.

The Mission warns of the environmental and economic consequences as a result of this violence and destruction in the Oil Crescent area, and urges the forces on the ground to cooperate in order to allow the fire crews to extinguish the blaze. The Mission renews its call for a cessation of hostilities, including airstrikes, which threatens to further widen the conflict.

These attacks are in clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions on Libya. Libyan oil belongs to all the Libyan people and is the country’s economic lifeline. The Mission reiterates its call on all sides to safeguard Libya’s oil installations and to desist from any action that endangers this strategic national asset.

UNSMIL also condemns the attack by unidentified gunmen on Thursday 25 December 2014 that reportedly killed a number of guards on duty at a power station near the city of Sirte.

UNSMIL urges Libya’s influential actors to make every effort to bring an end to this senseless cycle of violence. The Mission stresses that there can be no winners in the current conflict, and that the continuing violence in the Oil Crescent area, Benghazi and elsewhere in Libya will only deepen the rift among the Libyans and further destroy their country’s infrastructure and state institutions. In addition to its serious negative impact on Libya’s economy, this latest escalation in the Oil Crescent area further undermines the ongoing efforts to convene the political dialogue.