TRIPOLI, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Thursday allowed oil companies' airplanes to resume flights in southern Libya after declaring the region a no-fly zone recently.
"The Commander of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces issued instructions to the commander of Sabha military zone (southern Libya) to allow airplanes of oil companies to resume flights to and from the oil fields in the south to transport personnel and supplies," the army's spokesman Ahmad al-Mismari said in a statement Thursday.
All of the oil companies' airplanes must move in coordination with the army's air force in order to "prevent any infiltration of the region by foreign or suspicious aircraft and support to terrorist and criminal gangs and foreign mercenaries", the spokesman said.
On Thursday, al-Mismari announced that the army had taken control of El-Feel oil field in southern Libya peacefully, the second major oil field taken over by the army this month.
On Monday, the army allowed resumption of civilian flights in southern Libya after declaring the region a no-fly zone earlier this month.
The army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been carrying out a military campaign against terrorism and crime in the south since mid-January.
The army is allied with the eastern-based government, which is competing against the western-based UN-backed government for legitimacy.
