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Libyan government warplanes attack ship near port - air force commander


    BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Warplanes from Libya?s official government attacked a ship off the Libyan port of Sirte on Sunday, the air force commander said.

    ?Our jets warned an unflagged ship off Sirte city, but it ignored the warning,? Saqer al-Joroushi told Reuters. ?We gave it a chance to evaluate the situation, then our fighting jets attacked the ship because it was unloading fighters and weapons,? he added.

    An oil official said the ship was actually  a tanker which had been carrying 25,000 tonnes of gasoil.

    (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami, Ayman al-Warfalli and George Libby; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Heavens)