Filipino killed, 5 wounded in Libya attack

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino oil worker has been killed in a rocket attack on a coastal town west of Tripoli, Libya, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Monday, March 30. 

“Our embassy in Tripoli confirmed that one Filipino died in [a] bombing in Zawiya,” DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said in a text message to Agence France-Presse.

Five others were wounded in the attack, a Libyan security source said on Monday. 

Among them were 3 other Filipino oil workers, the source said.

The 4 Filipinos were riding in a car when Sunday’s attack on Zawiya, 40 kilometers west of Tripoli,  took place, the source said, adding that a Sudanese man and a Libyan man who were driving separate cars were also wounded.

Libya has been wracked by conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival militias and governments battling for its oil wealth.

The security source said Zawiya falls under the control of Fajr Libya, a militia coalition that in August seized Tripoli, where it has set up a rival government and parliament.

There was no immediate confirmation by Libya‘s internationally recognized administration of the attack.

But an Agence France-Presse photographer in Zawiya saw the apparent impact of a rocket attack in the middle of a road near a shuttered school in the town.

The wife of one of the wounded men told Agence France-Presse it was the second time her husband was hurt in unrest in Libya.

“This is the second time for my husband,” said the woman, a nurse who works at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Zawiya, who did not wish to be identified.

“We pray for everybody’s safety here,” she said, choking back tears.

Manila has evacuated more than 4,000 Filipinos from Libya since July, when FajrLibya battled loyalist forces for control of Tripoli. (READ: 2,000 more Filipinos sign up to leave Libya)

Despite the political and security unrest, about 4,000 Filipinos continue to work in the country, lured by high salaries, with many employed in hospitals, by engineering firms and oil facilities.

In January, two Filipina women were among 9 people killed in an attack on a Tripoli luxury hotel that was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Three Filipinos were killed in an attack in February on the Al-Mabruk oil field in central Libya, where 8 Libyan guards were also killed. – Rappler.com