WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Violence in Libya is spilling over to threaten state institutions, including the country's oil company, the U.S. State Department said.
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. government condemned the Sunday bombing of a Greek oil tanker near the Libyan port of Derna. Two crewmembers were killed in the attack on the ARAEVO tanker.
"The ongoing escalation of violence in Libya against civilian commercial interests further widens a conflict that is fundamentally political and threatens the integrity, unity, neutrality, and independence of Libya's critical institutions, including the National Oil Co.," Psaki said in a statement released late Tuesday.
Col. Ahmed Mesmari, a spokesman for the Libyan military, told the BBC the tanker was targeted because it did not submit to an inspection before entering the port and entered a military zone.
"We bombed it twice," he said.
Libyan unity has been tested since civil war ended officially in late 2011. Several groups are battling for more regional autonomy in a country once divided into three administrative divisions.
Libyan forces have been battling militants with the Libya Dawn and, at times, those loyal to the group calling itself the Islamic State.
Psaki said Washington is committed to working with its partners in the international community to help the Libyan people address ongoing threats to its post-war democratic transition.
Libya, a once major North African oil producer, has struggled to return to its pre-war output levels of more than 1 million barrels per day.
The U.S. military played a role in a NATO intervention in Libya in 2011. NATO said there are no plans for further military action in the country.
