Libya’s GNA Says Retakes Tarhouna

A fighter loyal to Libya's GNA celebrates after regaining control over the city, in Tripoli, Libya, June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
A fighter loyal to Libya's GNA celebrates after regaining control over the city, in Tripoli, Libya, June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
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Libya’s GNA Says Retakes Tarhouna

A fighter loyal to Libya's GNA celebrates after regaining control over the city, in Tripoli, Libya, June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
A fighter loyal to Libya's GNA celebrates after regaining control over the city, in Tripoli, Libya, June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili

The Government of National Accord (GNA) announced Friday taking over Tarhouna, 90 kilometers southeast of the Libyan capital Tripoli, the last western stronghold of the Libyan National Army (LNA).

"Our heroic forces have extended their control over the whole of Tarhouna," said GNA spokesman Mohamad Gnounou.

The GNA said Thursday that its forces regained control of all of Tripoli's entrance and exit points after taking back the airport.

GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj vowed that his government would impose its control over the whole of Libya.

"Our fight continues,” said Sarraj who is backed by Turkey.

Late Thursday, LNA chief Khalifa Haftar's spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari confirmed his forces' "redeployment" away from the capital after more than a year of sometimes intense fighting.

He said the redeployment was a "humanitarian gesture intended to spare the Libyan people further bloodshed".

US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland expressed hope that the intensified diplomatic activity and the case-fire talks, announced this week by the UN, could help the sides reach an agreement.

“What makes it different now is that the escalation is in such a dangerous stage that cooler heads can and should prevail,” he told reporters on Thursday.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.