Largest weapons haul captured in Egypt from Libya

Vendredi 29 Juin 2012

A large weapons haul in a convoy of vehicles was apprehended by Egyptian police after a tip of according to AP
Largest weapons haul captured in Egypt from Libya
The haul included 139 grad rockets thousands of rounds of ammunition and heavy machine guns and mortars.
One of the smugglers said it was bound for the Sinai Bedouin rebels who have engaged in a number of attacks recently. The weapons could have been destined for Gaza.

The regional implications of continuing arms smuggling are widening their scope. A report on France 24 details the conflict between the Tubus a black tribe and the Zwei an Arab tribe. They both fought Gaddafi but are now fighting each other and there have been reports of hundreds killed and injured in locations like Kufra and Sabha and the Tubus say they not the central government control the strip of Libyan territory next to Niger.

The movement of arms into the Sahel especially Mali seems to continue unabated and the regional implications are indeed worrying. Last week a Tunisian F5 fighter destroyed two cars full of weapons near to the Algerian border having been fired at by a shoulder carried rocket launcher . A third vehicle was said to have escaped into Algeria. There have been armed clashes between Tunisian police and  armed Al Qaeda operatives in Tunisia.

With large porous borders the situation is very difficult to control and the lawlessness and availability of heavy weapons in Libya could ignite more regional wars not least in Libya itself.

The new Libyan government when elected has to somehow dissolve militia and tribal groups and they will need effective help to do that. They will also have to establish control over their armouries. NATO and America which aided the revolt against Gaddafi through using their airpower succeeded in achieving his overthrow but allowed the succeeding disorder and easy access to weapons to continue with disastrous consequences including the loss of the North of Mali to Tuareg islamists and Al Qaeda.With East Africa and al-Shabaab, and Boko Haram in Nigeria and the whole of the Sahel under threat te area for potential conflict is vast. Add to it Egypt, where many  former Gaddafi regime members still find refuge, Sinai and Gaza with potential for conflict with Israel the affected area for potential armed conflict triggered by this vast flow of weapons is growing larger and may also include Syria.  




Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Largest-weapons...

NAU - Agencies