The move by the Benghazi-based administration, which controls most of the country's oil fields, comes amid rising tensions after rival authorities based in the capital Tripoli took over the central bank Monday morning and replaced its governor.

The country of 6.8 million people has struggled to recover from years of conflict after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi, and remains divided between a UN-recognised government based in the capital Tripoli and a rival administration in the east, backed by military chief Khalifa Haftar.

Now, reemerging bloodshed and power struggles in the vast North African nation have raised fears of a broader escalation, threatening to deal a fatal blow to the UN-brokered political transition and push the war-torn country deeper into turmoil.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.