Boko Haram:  UN warns on arms from Libya

Boko Haram:  UN warns on arms from Libya

The United Nations, in a report on Thursday, said the Libyan civil war might have given militant groups in Africa's Sahel region like Boko Haram and al Qaeda access to large weapons caches.

The report on the impact of the Libyan civil war on countries of the Sahel region that straddle the Sahara, including Nigeria, Niger and Chad, also says some national authorities believe the Islamist sect Boko Haram, which killed more than 500 people last year and more than 250 this year in Nigeria, has increasing links to al Qaeda's North African wing.

The UN Security Council will discuss the report, which was prepared by a UN assessment team that met with officials from countries in the region.

"The governments of the countries visited indicated that, in spite of efforts to control their borders, large quantities of weapons and ammunition from Libyan stockpiles were smuggled into the Sahel region," the report said.

Advanced weaponry

Such weapons include “rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns with anti-aircraft visors, automatic rifles, ammunition, grenades, explosives (Semtex), and light anti-aircraft artillery (light calibre bi-tubes) mounted on vehicles," it said.

More advanced weapons such as surface-to-air-missiles and man-portable air defense systems, known as MANPADS, may also have reached groups in the region, the report said.

Smuggling

The report also said some countries believe weapons have been smuggled into the Sahel by former fighters in Libya, Libyan army regulars and mercenaries who fought on behalf of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted and killed by rebels.

Some of the countries told the assessment team that they had registered an increase in arms trade across West Africa.

"Some of the weapons may be hidden in the desert and could be sold to terrorist groups like al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko Haram or other criminal organizations," the UN.report said.

Expansion

It also stated that Nigeria was not the only country worried about the activities of Boko Haram. Officials from Niger told the team that Boko Haram appeared to have al Qaeda links and "was already active in spreading its ideology and propaganda and, in some cases, had succeeded in closing down public schools."

The report says some national authorities believe Boko Haram members from Nigeria and Chad had received training at al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb training camps in Mali in the summer of 2011.

Reuters/Ehimen/Cokey