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Libya reports eight killed, nine abducted after attack on oilfield

Philippines department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose says  no demands have been made in relation to the kidnapped Filipinos
Philippines department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose says no demands have been made in relation to the kidnapped Filipinos

Four Filipinos, an Austrian and four other foreigners were abducted in an attack on a Libyan oilfield last week after an assault blamed on Islamic State jihadists, official sources have said.

Eight guards were killed in the surprise attack on the southern oilfield of Al-Ghani on Friday, the Libyan unit tasked with protecting oil installations has said.

The Libyan National Oil Company also said at the time that two foreigners - an Austrian and a Filipino who worked for a services company - were missing after the attack.

Austria's foreign ministry, which had confirmed that one of its nationals was missing, said that there was "reliable information" that they were "in the hands of IS terrorists".

The ministry said in a statement that there were "no signs to indicate whether they are dead or alive".

The missing Austrian, who is 39, was named in unconfirmed Austrian media reports as Dalibor S. a father of two, oil manager and former soldier from the northern city of Linz.

Philippines foreign department spokesman Charles Jose said Manila's embassy in Tripoli had reported that four Filipinos and five foreigners had been kidnapped including the Austrian, two Bangladeshis, a Czech national and a Ghanian.

Mr Jose told a news conference that the attack "underscore[s] the escalating threat to the safety and security of Filipino oil workers in Libyan oil fields which have been targeted by armed groups in recent weeks,"

He added that no demands had been issued.

A total of seven Filipinos have now been abducted in the North African state this year and the fate of another three seized in the Al-Mabruk oilfield early last month remains unknown.

Libya has been wracked by conflict for the past four years, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of key cities and the country's oil riches.

There were 13,000 Filipinos working in Libya when the Philippine government ordered mandatory repatriation in July 2014, the foreign department said.

The government and private employers have since brought many Filipinos home, but about 4,000 others have remained, lured by salaries they could not expect in the Philippines.

Some one in ten Filipinos work overseas.

"In view of this worsening situation we appeal once again to the estimated 4,000 plus Filipinos who are still in Libya to get in touch with our embassy in Tripoli," Mr Jose said.