The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) - Southwest Branch - and Brigade 444 that is affiliated with the Government of National Unity exchanged accusations after clashes on Saturday near the North Hamada oilfield.
PFG said that "a force affiliated with the brigade tried to attack the oil facilities," which the latter denied, saying that it "is concerned with confronting smuggling and not controlling oil fields."
PFG said in a statement early Sunday morning that while a patrol affiliated with it was carrying out security tasks to protect the oil wells on Saturday, it encountered an ambush by a force affiliated with Brigade 444 at about 20 kilometers south of the field. It said the patrol consisted of four military vehicles, and was carrying out its tasks within the boundaries of the administrative branch, adding that the Brigade's force had 35 vehicles armed with all kinds of weapons.
PFG accused Brigade 444 of planning to attack the oil facilities, adding that after a short clash, its patrol was able to return to the field, while one of its four vehicles was captured by Brigade 444's force after it broke down. It indicated that a number of personnel were arrested and they claimed to be from the army, but "they were hiding their faces, and they were handed over to the military station with all their weapons and vehicles, before the prosecution released them." PFG added that members of the Brigade 444 "seek to control the oil and gas fields according to an externally supported plan."
Meanwhile, Brigade 444 denied, in a statement published on its Facebook page, what it called "misleading information that talks about a battle taking place in an oil field in order to seize it," adding that the oil fields are not its target, and that if it had sought to do so, it would not have been difficult for it."
Brigade 444 considered that its operations aim to control and thwart huge smuggling deals, adding that it has seized the most prominent and largest smuggling networks operating at a regional level, and referred those responsible to the Attorney General.
"We assure Libyans that the brigade will never be present in the oil fields, even if their security is vacant, and its operations will not target any oil facility or oil field on any day, as oil fields and facilities in general are not within the brigade's jurisdiction."
