IS beheaded Libyan guards in attack that seized 9 foreigners

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Tuesday 10 Mar 2015 - 10:47 Makkah mean time-19-5-1436 IS beheaded Libyan guards in attack that seized 9 foreigners (Google image) Tripoli, Libya (IINA) - Militants from Libya's ISIS beheaded eight Libyan guards in an attack on a central oil field last week during which the extremists abducted nine foreigners, a Libyan spokesman said Monday news agencies ABC, Reuters reported. In the Philippines, authorities said Monday that four of their nationals were among the nine abducted from the oil field. An Austrian, a Czech, a Bangladeshi and a Ghana national were also taken while one hostage remains unidentified. Friday's attack on the al-Ghani oil field near the town of Zalla, aroud 750 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tripoli, was part of a series of deadly assaults on Libya's oil lucrative infrastructure by the ISIS group. Libya's military spokesman, Ahmed al-Mesmari, warned that IS militants' long-term goal is to take over Libya's petroleum industry. "This is the lifeline of the Libyan people," he said Monday, adding the consequences of such a loss would be dire. During the attack on al-Ghani, an employee watched the beheadings of the eight oil guards and subsequently died of a heart attack, al-Mesmari also said. Bangladesh on Monday confirmed one of its citizens was among the foreign workers taken hostage by IS calling the incident a kidnapping. The nine foreigners worked for oilfield management company Value Added Oilfield Services (VAOS). The company said it did not know which militia group was responsible for the incident and said it would not publish the names of its employees. "We are working in very close cooperation with the crises team of the Austrian foreign ministry," VAOS said in an emailed statement, adding it did not know where its employees had been taken to. SM/IINA