Libya turns mine clearance into a security priority
Libya’s Chief of Staff Salah Al-Din Al-Namroush discussed a new cooperation on mine clearance and war remnants with UN mine action official Fatma Zureiq in Tripoli on May 12th, as reported by The Libya Observer and agencies on May 13th.
The meeting addressed the attempt to strengthen coordination between the Libyan military authorities and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) on programmes dealing with landmines and other residues left by years of conflict.
The discussions focused on implementing new plans for mine clearance and war remnant management in a way that protects civilians and supports security while also providing enforced stability across different regions of the country.
The objective is to increase the capacity of personnel working in mine action according to internationally recognised technical standards and in cooperation with relevant international bodies.
In Libya mine clearance is a fundamental condition for the return of displaced families, the reopening of land and the restoration of basic movement in areas affected by armed conflict during the years.
UNSMIL stated that non governmental organisations had cleared 92,295 explosive remnants of war in Libya during 2025 including more than 4,000 mines and explosive munitions from Tripoli Zoo with the participation of several government bodies.
Libya is therefore not dealing only with isolated explosive hazards but with a dispersed contamination problem that affects residential areas and public facilities and agricultural land.
For the UN cooperation with Libyan institutions offers a channel to standardise procedures, improve technical capacity and reduce civilian exposure while for Libya, it is a way to link security sector work to visible public protection rather than only to military organisation.
Removing war remnants does not solve the political crisis but it directly reduces the cost of conflict for ordinary civilians and creates safer conditions for recovery in areas still marked by war and ongoing conflicts.
The Libya Observer plus agencies, maghrebi.org
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