A new Turkish weapon shipment was seized at Misurata port, head of the Customs Guard Tarek Abdel Karim told 218 News Monday.
He said the seizure of the container took place on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The shipment carried a car with different kind of weapons inside it, up to 450 9-ml pistols.
He added that the container arrived at Misurata port with official papers, and the usual customs procedures were almost completed under the assumption that the container is commercial and does not contain any illegal goods.
This is not the first time a Turkish weapon shipment has been seized in Libya. In December, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Tripoli three days after Turkish weapons and ammunition had been seized at Khoms port.
He met with head of the Government of National Accord Faiez Sarraj and vowed to investigate how the weapons departed from Turkey for Libya. They also discussed enhancing economic relations.
On Dec. 18, the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced seizing Turkish weapons and ammunition believed to be related to the ongoing assassinations and violence in Tripoli.
On the same day, the Customs Authority announced that a large amount of weapons and ammunition smuggled from Turkey were seized by customs employees at Khoms port.
The LNA issued a statement then, saying it followed with “great concern” the national authorities’ seizure of two arm shipments coming from Turkey.
Further, the army found Turkish weapons during the liberation of Benghazi from the Islamic State group around July 2017, in addition to tons of Turkish explosives seized by Greece in January.
The LNA stressed in its statement the involvement of Turkey and other countries in supporting terrorists in Libya against the national army.
The General Command called on the international community, the United Nations and its mission in Libya to condemn Turkey and to open an immediate investigation into terrorist crimes committed by Turkey in violation to the Security Council resolutions no. 1973 for 2011 and no. 1373 on the financing of terrorist organizations.
