World Bulletin / News Desk 

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. "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.