Drone attack on Libya’s Zawiya power station triggers massive fire

A drone strike hit the South Zawiya transformation station in western Libya before dawn on Wednesday, sparking a large fire that completely destroyed the facility and severed power to vast areas, according to the state-run General Electricity Company. Local media broadcast footage showing thick smoke and flames billowing from the installation, which lies roughly 40 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli. No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, which follows a string of similar strikes on vital infrastructure in the Zawiya region over recent days.

Power grid under strain as maintenance halts

The electricity provider confirmed that the transformation station burned entirely and was rendered inoperable, cutting supply to wide swathes of the country. The company also revealed that recent security instability and repeated assaults have directly damaged transmission lines and grid equipment, while also impeding upkeep at the larger 1,300-megawatt Zawiya power plant. A US firm had already withdrawn its technical crews from the plant in June due to deteriorating safety conditions, delaying essential maintenance and leaving over 700 megawatts of capacity offline—a shortfall that now threatens to trigger partial or nationwide blackouts if attacks persist. All work has been suspended and personnel evacuated until safe conditions can be guaranteed.

Refinery targeted for fifth time in days

The drone strike on the power station came just a day after Libya’s National Oil Corporation reported that the Zawiya Oil Refinery had been hit for the fifth time since Sunday. In the latest incident, an explosive-laden UAV struck the roof of a diesel storage tank, piercing it and igniting a fire that emergency responders later managed to contain. A separate drone had earlier targeted another tank at the same refinery, also causing a blaze, though no casualties were reported in either episode. The NOC stated that refinery operations had resumed after the initial attacks and that fuel supplies and reserves remained unaffected for the time being.

Wider instability amid prolonged political deadlock

The attacks coincide with heightened tensions in Zawiya, where armed clashes last week spread to the neighbouring city of Surman, resulting in fatalities, injuries, and a prison break. Libya remains fractured between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, and a rival administration in Benghazi appointed by the House of Representatives. The UN Support Mission in Libya continues to mediate between the factions, but long-awaited national elections—seen as the only viable path to ending over a decade of conflict since the 2011 ouster of Moammar Gadhafi—remain indefinitely postponed, leaving the country's infrastructure and population increasingly vulnerable to escalating violence.