The U.N. Security Council voted Monday to extend the arms embargo in Libya for another year as illegal weapons transfers fuel the tension in the country.
The Security Council held a meeting to discuss Libya’s situation amid the ongoing fighting near Tripoli and the failure of the U.N. mission to establish a humanitarian truce.
The arms embargo on Libya has been imposed since February 2011 relating to the supply of arms and military equipment to and from Libya.
“A seemingly unlimited arms supply fuel the erroneous belief in the military solution to the conflict and contributes to the unwillingness of actors on the ground to agree on a ceasefire and resume a political process,” said Germany’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Juergen Schulz.
The council also unanimously approved to extend a resolution of the inspection of vessels on the high seas headed to or from Libya as well as the Operation Sophia, the European naval mission led by Rome to fight illegal immigration, until 2020.
During the meeting, the repercussions of the ongoing fighting that has killed 607 people and injured 3,261 others thus far were discussed.
Extending the arms embargo comes amid the escalation of the tensions between the Government of National Accord (GNA), which uses militias and armed groups in the war, and General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar.
On May 18, a shipment of 40 Turkish armored vehicles and other arms reached Tripoli Port, coming from Samsun Port in Turkey.
Claims surfaced that the coalition forces loyal to the GNA received the shipment, carrying dozens of Turkish-made BMC Kirpi armored vehicles.
