The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has handed over a temporary Ammunition Storage Site to local authorities in Zintan, in the West of the country, part of UNSMIL’s efforts to work with local partners to make Libya a safer place.
The project aims to reduce the threat of uncontrolled explosions in the local community by collecting ammunition from the areas around Zintan and storing it in a safe manner. Local personnel were trained in ammunition management and will now guard and control the site.
The following week, 600 kilometres to the southeast, in the central part of Libya, 52 tonnes of explosive remnants of war (ERW) went up in flames in a controlled explosion at the Suknah Ammunition Storage Area.
The demolition was carried out by UNSMIL’s international partners away from populated areas and following five days of rigorous planning, consultation and coordination with the local authorities, who made appropriate arrangements to ensure that the population of the area are made aware of the activity and would not be affected in any way by the blasts.
