A convoy of Russian mercenaries entered Libya’s Sharara oil field and met with the facility’s security forces yesterday, the country’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. The meeting comes as oil from the country’s major fields, under the influence of military strongman Khalifa Hifter, are shut down.
The United Nations-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) was hoping for a restart pumping at Sharara, which is located in Libya’s southwest, as the GNA broke out from Tripoli in recent months. The NOC blamed Hifter-aligned forces earlier this month for preventing Sharara from coming back online.