UN report says weapons from Lybia are escalating conflicts in Mali and Syria

Weapons are spreading from Libya at an “alarming rate,” fuelling conflicts in Mali, Syria and elsewhere and boosting the arsenals of extremists and criminals in the region, according to a UN report.

The report by the UN Security Council’s Group of Experts – who monitor an arms embargo imposed on Libya at the start of an uprising in 2011 which ousted leader Muammar Qaddafi – said the North African state had become a key source of weapons in the region as its nascent government struggles to exert authority.

Libyan government security forces remain weak and militias, made up of former rebel fighters, hold power on the ground.