Heavy Clashes Erupt in Zawiya Near Oil Refinery as Security Forces Launch Large Operation

Security forces in Zawiya, western Libya, announced on Friday the launch of a large-scale security operation based on warrants issued by the competent prosecutor’s office. The Zawiya Security Directorate and the Joint Security Room said the operation includes raids, arrests, searches and the referral of suspects involved in forming criminal gangs, murder, kidnapping, unlawful detention, extortion, drug and psychotropic-substance trafficking, people smuggling, and trade in weapons and ammunition.

Fierce armed clashes with heavy weapons erupted in several parts of Zawiya before dawn on Friday and continued sporadically.

The clashes focused particularly on the area around the Zawiya oil complex and refinery before spreading to residential neighbourhoods, with bursts of gunfire and explosions heard intermittently across the city. The Emergency Medicine and Support Centre urged citizens in Zawiya to exercise extreme caution, stay at home and go out only in cases of absolute necessity.

Local sources and eyewitnesses described panic among residents as the fighting expanded from the refinery zone into nearby districts.

The National Oil Corporation and the Zawiya Oil Refining Company announced the halt of operations at the Zawiya refinery. The facility was shut down and the port cleared of tankers after shells landed in operational areas of the oil complex, with some shells reaching sensitive operational areas.

The National Oil Corporation evacuated workers and students from the oil institute except for fire-fighting crews while monitoring operations continued.

Fuel supplies to Tripoli and surrounding areas were not affected despite the Zawiya refinery shutdown. Zawiya hosts one of Libya’s largest oil refineries with significant production capacity connected to vital domestic supply networks. The city is also a transit point and hub for irregular migrants heading to Europe and has previously experienced periods of tension and sporadic clashes between armed groups that have led to closure of the coastal highway linking Tripoli to the Tunisian border.

Libya has been divided between the internationally recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli and a parallel government in the east backed by the parliament since 2011. International efforts to hold elections and unify Libyan state institutions remain stalled. 6 million barrels per day with an official target of raising oil production to around 2 million barrels per day by 2012.

Libyan oil exports to Italy, France and Germany accounted for close to 85% of total exports at that time. 43 million barrels per day during April and May 2026, the highest level in more than a decade, according to the National Oil Corporation. 6 million barrels per day by the end of 2026 and have the ambition of reaching 2 million barrels per day in the coming years.

The unified national budget was agreed in April 2026. The Sharara field, which has a capacity of more than 300,000 barrels per day, resumed full-capacity operations following pipeline maintenance. Libya holds the largest proven oil reserves on the African continent.

Libyan crude is classified as ‘sweet, light’ crude oil with low sulphur content.