UN● Nakamitsu: “Arms from one conflict can destabilise neighbouring countries years later”
Weapons looted during Libya’s 2011 conflict have resurfaced in the hands of extremist groups in Nigeria, the United Nations has revealed, warning that illicit arms continue to fuel violence long after wars end.
UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu disclosed this Tuesday while briefing delegates at UN headquarters on the spread of illicit firearms.
—“It stays, and it continues to harm people”—
Nakamitsu said arms looted or diverted during and after the conflict that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s rule later surfaced across the wider Sahel region, including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.
“Libya, where weapons looted or diverted during and after the 2011 conflict, which ended the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, later surfaced across the wider Sahel region, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria,” she told delegates. “Some were subsequently found in the hands of extremist groups, illustrating how arms from one conflict can destabilise neighbouring countries years later.
“The end of the conflict does not mean the end of the circulation of those weapons; it stays, and it continues to harm people.”
—Sahel-wide devastation–
The UN official said the proliferation of looted Libyan weapons has caused devastation across peaceful communities in the Sahel, highlighting how poorly secured arsenals can arm insurgents and criminal gangs for years.
Nigeria has faced recurring attacks by extremist groups in the North-East and banditry across the North-West and North-Central, with security agencies repeatedly linking the influx of weapons to regional conflicts.
