UN: Libya’s 2011 War Weapons Ended Up With Terrorist Groups in Nigeria

The United Nations has revealed that weapons looted during Libya’s 2011 civil war were later traced to terrorist and extremist groups operating in Nigeria and other parts of the Sahel region.

Speaking at a United Nations meeting on the proliferation of illicit firearms at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, warned that arms circulating after conflicts often continue to fuel violence for years.

According to Nakamitsu, weapons looted or diverted during and after the 2011 conflict that toppled former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi spread across the Sahel, reaching countries such as 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 said.

“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.”

Nakamitsu stressed that the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons poses a major threat to peacebuilding efforts and regional stability.

She noted that weapons retained by armed groups, militias, and even communities seeking self-protection can contribute to renewed cycles of violence long after conflicts officially end.

The UN official also linked illicit firearms to terrorism, human rights abuses, organised crime, and sexual and gender-based violence.

“It is not just a security issue. It is also about peacebuilding. It is about human rights. It is also about development,” she said.

Nakamitsu warned that weapons used in armed conflicts often remain beyond government control, crossing borders and sustaining insecurity across regions.

“Wars end, but unfortunately, the weapons that are used in that particular conflict would not be under full control,” she said.

“They continue to circulate. They are sometimes hidden. They are brought across borders.”

She further raised concerns over emerging threats such as ghost guns, 3D-printed firearms, and increasingly sophisticated arms trafficking networks, which make weapons more difficult for authorities to track and trace.

“Those weapons or weapon parts, if they are disassembled and then trafficked, are more difficult to trace,” she added.