Nine oil workers who were kidnapped in Libya by militants allied to Islamic State work for an oil services company based in Qormi.
The workers, from Austria, the Czech Republic, the Philippines, Bangladesh and an unspecified African country, were abducted on Friday by a group of militants from the al-Ghani oilfield near the town of Zalla, 750km southeast of the capital, Tripoli.
The assault was part of a series of deadly raids on Libya’s oil infrastructure by IS.
The people seized worked for the Value Added Oilfield Services (VAOS), which is based in Mill Street, Qormi, has a branch office in Austria and operates across several locations in Libya. Their abduction by IS was yesterday confirmed officially by the Austrian foreign ministry, which this morning cited “secure information”. Austria said the workers were alive when taken.
“We know that they were not injured when they were transported away from the al-Ghani oilfield,” an Austrian ministry spokesman said, adding that the group was taken by Islamic State militants.
However, they said nothing about eight guards who were allegedly beheaded onsite, according to a spokesman for the armed forces associated with the internationally-recognised government of Tobruk.
We are doing everything in our power to establish the whereabouts of those missing and to have them returned safely
According to the spokesman, Ahmed al-Mesmari, an employee died of a heart attack shortly after witnessing the beheadings. However, when contacted yesterday, VAOS operations and services managing directors Johann Tomek and Christian Wintersteiger denied that any of the employees had died or were physically harmed during the attack.
The company said it would not publish the names of the people concerned to safeguard them and protect their families.
“We are working in very close cooperation with the crisis team of the Austrian foreign ministry who in turn is closely coordinating with their Czech counterparts, as well as all other concerned embassies,” the company said.
“What we can assure you is that we are doing everything in our power to establish the whereabouts of those missing and to have them returned safely,” the company spokesman said.
This is the second time an IS attack has indirect implications for Malta, after two gunmen attacked the Corinthia Bab Africa hotel in Tripoli last January, killing 10 people. The militants were also eventually killed by Libyan fighters.
The attack was claimed almost immediately by IS through a tweet from an account associated with the group. It was also subsequently featured in the February edition of the IS magazine, Dabiq.
With firms operating in Libya relocating to Malta in droves due to the growing unrest, it is likely that more companies based on the island will find themselves in sticky situations in Libya.
The attacks on the oilfields carried out in recent weeks forced the Libyan oil authorities to declare 11 fields non-operational and invoke a force majeure clause that exempts the State from liability.
Libya’s military spokesman warned that IS militants’ long-term goal was to take over Libya’s petroleum industry. “This is the lifeline of the Libyan people,” he said.