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UN Nakamitsu: “Weapons from one conflict can destabilize neighboring countries years later”
Weapons looted during the 2011 Libyan conflict have resurfaced in the hands of extremist groups in Nigeria, the United Nations has revealed, warning that illicit weapons continue to fuel violence long after the wars have ended.
This was revealed by UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu on Tuesday while briefing delegates at UN Headquarters on the spread of illicit firearms.
—“It remains and continues to harm people”—
Nakamitsu said weapons looted or diverted during and after the conflict that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s rule later surfaced across the Sahel region, including Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
“Libya, where weapons were looted or diverted during and after the 2011 conflict, which ended the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, then emerged across the Sahel region, including Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria,” he told delegates. “Some were later found in the hands of extremist groups, demonstrating how weapons from one conflict can destabilize neighboring countries years later.
“The end of the conflict does not mean the end of the circulation of those weapons; it persists and continues to harm people.”
—Devastation across the Sahel–
The U.N. official said the proliferation of looted Libyan weapons had caused devastation in peaceful Sahel communities, highlighting how poorly secured arsenals could arm rebels and criminal gangs for years.
Nigeria has faced recurring attacks by extremist groups in the northeast and banditry in the northwest and north-central, with security agencies repeatedly linking the influx of weapons to regional conflicts.
