TRIPOLI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern government forces said Monday that they have taken over Zueitina, a major port in the oil crescent region.
"Our armed forces managed to take control over the port of Zueitina and fully secure it," said Mohamed Al-Azumi, spokesman of the forces led by Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
Haftar's forces on Sunday launched a sneak attack on the oil crescent, a region containing Libya's largest oil ports, and announced taking over the ports of Ras Lanuf and Sidra.
The Tripoli-based, United Nations-backed government of national accord denounced the attack.
"The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord believes that this unjustified escalation will only prolong the conflict and will cause losses of Libyan lives and livelihood," it said in a statement.
"The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord is following up the news about the possibility of some foreign troops exploiting the current situation and entering some vital and strategic areas," the statement said. "It this regard, the Council will spare no effort to eliminate those forces, should such information be correct."
The oil sector, Libya's main source of income, has been suffering drastically since the upheavals that toppled Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, due to armed attacks and political division.
The north African country remains divided politically between two governments and parliaments, despite a UN-brokered peace agreement signed by the country's political rivals in December 2015.
Meanwhile, in Sirte, a city not far from the oil ports, unity government forces fighting Islamic State (IS) affiliates said they have taken control of most of the city, trapping the remaining IS fighters in a small area in Sirte.
The recent spate of attacks on oil ports is believed to have further complicated the situation in Libya.
