A drone targeted a power station in Libya’s western city of Zawiya on Wednesday, sparking a fire at the facility, local media reported.
Footage carried by Libyan outlets showed flames rising from the power station following the reported strike.
The attack follows a series of drone strikes on key infrastructure in Zawiya, around 40 kilometres west of Tripoli.
Libya’s General Electricity Company said the South Zawiya transformation station was targeted, causing it to burn completely and go out of service, cutting electricity to wide areas.
The recent attacks and security instability in Zawiya have directly damaged electricity facilities, transmission lines and grid equipment, while also affecting maintenance work at the 1,300-megawatt Zawiya power plant, the company said.
The US company had already withdrawn its technical teams from the plant in June due to security conditions, delaying major maintenance work and leaving more than 700 megawatts of the plant’s capacity unavailable to the national grid, it added.
All work has halted at the plant and teams have been evacuated until safe working conditions are restored, the company said.
The company warned that continued attacks on electricity infrastructure could threaten the stability of the national grid and lead to wider disruptions, including partial or general blackouts.
No group has claimed responsibility.
Series of attacks
On Tuesday, Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the Zawiya Oil Refinery had been targeted for the fifth time since Sunday.
The state-run company said an explosive-laden drone struck the roof of a diesel tank, piercing it and triggering a fire that emergency teams later brought under control.
Another drone had targeted a separate diesel tank at the refinery on Tuesday, also causing a fire. No casualties were reported in either attack.
The corporation said refinery operations had resumed following the earlier strikes and that fuel supplies and reserves remained unaffected.
Last week, clashes between armed groups in Zawiya spread to the nearby city of Surman, leaving people dead and injured and resulting in a prison break.
Libya remains divided between the internationally regonised Tripoli-based Government of National Unity led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and a rival administration appointed by the House of Representatives and headed by Osama Hammad in Benghazi.
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has sought to resolve political disputes that have delayed long-awaited national elections, which Libyans hope will help end years of political division and armed conflict following the 2011 overthrow of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
