US specialists dispose Libyan weapons
Libyan demonstrators protest in Tripoli’s landmark Martyrs Square on December 7, 2011 against former rebels who toppled Moamer Kadhafi but are still camping out in the capital and still have their weapons.
United States weapons specialists disposed of hundreds of pounds of explosives in Libya, as part of an ongoing effort to disable unsecured weapons, the Associated Press reported.
The weapons specialists buried approximately 1,300 pounds of weapons deep in the sand and blew it up on Sunday, the AP reported. The experts are on ground in Libya to help with the effort of disposing of weapons and other munitions.
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This follows Libya’s eight-month civil war, which ended with the killing of longtime leader Muammer Gaddafi. After Gaddafi’s death many feared that weapons could fall into the wrong hands in Libya, when a large amount went missing. US diplomats said weapons specialists disabled around 5,000 shoulder-fired missile launchers since September, the AP reported.
This announcement from US diplomats comes after a gunfight between rival armed groups near Tripoli’s international airport took place during the night, Reuters reported. The clashes started when a vehicle carrying Khalifa Haftar, head of ground forces in the Libyan national army approached a checkpoint near the airport manned by militia men from outside of Tripoli, Reuters reported.
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The clash between militias left one person dead and four people wounded, the AP reported. The revolutionaries were accused of trying to assassinate Haftar in two attacks between the groups in the same day.