On 3 September early in the morning, a drone crashed near a fuel storage tank at the Brega Fuel Depot, which is located next to the Airport Road in Tripoli. The incident was confirmed by the Brega Petroleum Marketing Company, a National Oil Corporation (NOC) subsidiary.
The NOC condemned the attempt to target the fuel tanks at the Brega depot ‘with a remotely operated drone’ and said that no significant damage was inflicted. All emergency teams ‘at all sites’ were placed on full readiness. As part of the precautionary measures to limit the damage in the case of another attack, specialized teams from Brega have started the process of pumping fuel from the tanks to reduce the level of fuel in them.
Initial reports indicated that the crash caused no fires, injuries, fatalities, or structural damage. However, afternoon inspections by Brega teams revealed that shrapnel from the drone caused minor damage to storage tanks no. 213 and 220 as well as to several connected pipelines, though specific details on the extent of the impact were omitted.
According to initial reports, supported by unofficial photographs, a drone controlled via a fiber-optic cable – similar to those deployed during the August attacks in Zawiyya – was used.
Brega strongly condemned the dawn attack, confirming that an unidentified drone entered the depot’s airspace before crashing. The company confirmed that no personnel were injured. Emergency teams alongside local authorities promptly secured the site. Brega assured that fuel distribution and normal supply chain operations remain entirely uninterrupted, with scheduled station deliveries proceeding as planned. The company praised the swift response of security and military forces, emphasized the critical need to safeguard vital oil infrastructure, and called for an official investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable while reiterating its commitment to facility safety and operational continuity.
On 4 September, a member of the board of the Brega Petroleum Marketing Company reported the discovery of fiber-optic cable remnants suspected to be linked to drone operations at the Janzour Oil Depot. Security precautions were enhanced and a special force from the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) was deployed to ensure the facility’s protection.
On 6 September, the Government of National Unity (GNU) announced that a Ministry of Defense (MoD), ‘intelligence operation’ dismantled an organized ‘sabotage cell’ and arrested five Libyan and foreign suspects. They are accused of conducting drone attacks on the refinery and the power plant in Zawiyya as well as on the Brega Fuel Depot. Additional attacks that were about to be carried out, including plans to attack the power plant in southern Tripoli and target key figures in politics and security agencies, were thwarted.
The government said evidence shows the incidents were part of a broad, premeditated and interconnected plot involving multiple actors and methods aimed at systematically striking infrastructure, energy sources and vital facilities at a time of acute summer power cuts and fuel shortages. It stressed that the arrests mark only the beginning of efforts to uncover the full network, vowing to pursue and expose all those who planned, funded, supported or facilitated the attacks, and pledging uncompromising legal action regardless of rank or status once investigations conclude.