A ship was bombed and sunk on Sunday in an air strike conducted by Libyan war planes in the vicinity of town of Mareesa, Reuters reports citing a spokesman of the air force allied to the country’s internationally recognized government, Nasser al-Hassi.
According to al-Hassi, “the vessel was sunk because it had loaded fighters, weapons and ammunition to support terrorism in the eastern region.”
As informed, another vessel was targeted by the attack in the vicinity of Benghazi, also said to have been carrying weapons.
Until now, there have been no details released with respect to the types or origin of vessels subjected to the air strikes.
Reuters reports that there had been no eyewitness report or independent confirmation for the strike near the town of Mareesa. However, the attack was also reported by the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television network.
Libyan air force has bombed vessels on three occasions so far under the same claims, however the vessels turned out to be unrelated oil tankers.
In May this year, two oil tankers were bombed by Libya’s government airplanes taking the toll of two crew members.
A ship officer died and several crew members were injured after a Turkish general cargo ship was shelled and attacked from the air near the Libyan port city of Tobruk on May 10.
Just two weeks after, another tanker was bombed while anchored to offload fuel cargo at a terminal near the city of Sirte, controlled by Islamist leaders. One person was killed and another injured in the bombing that saw the tanker Anwaar Afriqya burst into flames.
The oil-rich country has been torn between two governments after the 2011 overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi and has seen clashes between the country’s armed groups ever since.
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