Gunmen stormed an air base in Libya's southern town of Brak Shati and looted its ammunition depot Saturday evening, a senior Libyan army officer told Xinhua Sunday.

"Dozens of gunmen stormed the air base and looted all the ammunition inside the storage, including ammunition for heavy weapons such as rockets and artillery," Southern District Libyan Shield commander Ahmed Al Hasnawi told Xinhua over the phone.

The attack occurred "with the complicity of number of military personnel assigned to protect the base," Al Hasnawi said, quoting unidentified sources.

Bark Shati is located 900 km south of the Libyan capital.

Local authorities in southern Libya have been struggling to control the vast expanse of areas where drug, arms trafficking and human smuggling run rampant.