UN Official Reports Libya Weapons from 2011 Conflict Have Reached Extremist Groups in Sahel and Nigeria

Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told delegates at United Nations headquarters in New York that weapons looted during the 2011 Libya conflict have resurfaced with extremist groups in Nigeria and the wider Sahel region.

Nakamitsu said weapons taken after the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi were later traced across Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. She added that some of those arms eventually reached extremist groups.

"Libya, where weapons looted or diverted during and after the 2011 conflict... later surfaced across the wider Sahel region, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria," Nakamitsu said. She stated that arms diverted or stolen during armed conflicts often continue to circulate for years after the fighting ends.

"The end of the conflict does not mean the end of the circulation of those weapons; it stays, and it continues to harm people," she said. Nakamitsu linked the spread of illicit weapons to terrorism, human rights abuses and sexual and gender-based violence. "It is not just a security issue.

It is also about peacebuilding. It is also about development," she said. AllAfrica reported that Nakamitsu also noted emerging threats such as 3D-printed firearms, ghost guns and sophisticated trafficking networks that complicate efforts to control illicit arms flows.