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 A Reuters reporter near the port, which is not an oil
installation, saw a warplane open fire several times, although it
was unclear whether any harbor facilities were hit.
The port is the main gateway for wheat and fuel imports into eastern
Libya, a country struggling with anarchy three years after the
ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.
Saqer al-Jouroushi, head of Haftar's air defense unit, has said an
umbrella group of Islamist fighters, Majlis al-Shura, was using the
port to bring in supplies and weapons.
"We warned the port manager that we will not allow ships to dock to
supply Majlis al-Shura with weapons," said Jouroushi, whose unit
controls several planes from Libya's air force.
 He said the plane had deliberately missed the quay and had been
issuing a final warning, but added that it would hit next time if
another ship tried to offload weapons. Clashes in Benghazi have so
far been mainly limited to the suburbs.
"We are in a state of war and Ansar al-Sharia and its allies are
using the port to ship in arms against out troops," he said,
referring to an Islamist group blamed by Washington for an attack on
the U.S. consulate in the city in 2012, during which the U.S.
ambassador to Libya was killed.
Three years after Gaddafi died during an uprising against his rule,
Libya is divided. The government and elected parliament have
relocated to Tobruk in the far east since losing control of the
capital, Tripoli, where a rival government has been created by
forces from the western city of Misrata.
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Haftar has emerged as a renegade commander fighting Islamists and
has recently entered into a frail alliance with the government in
Tobruk.
Libya depends on foreign imports of food and consumer goods as the
desert country does not have any large industry outside the key oil
sector. However, shippers have become more reluctant to deal with
Libya, some traders have said, and the attack on Benghazi port is
only likely to heighten their concerns.
(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by
Crispian Balmer)
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