Containers containing some 2.5 tons of natural uranium have been found, reported missing from a site in Libya by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an armed forces general from the eastern Libyan camp announced on Thursday.
General Khaled al-Mahjoub, commander of the communications directorate of the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, said on his Facebook page that the containers had been found “just five kilometers” from the place where they were stored. in the Sebha region of southern Libya.
He posted a video showing a man in a protective suit counting, in English, 18 blue containers, representing all the uranium that was stored at the site.
“The situation is under control, the IAEA has been informed,” General Mahjoub told AFP.
the trace of a flight
In his Facebook post, General Mahjoub claimed that after the containers were found missing during a visit by IAEA inspectors, “an LNA armed force found them just five kilometers from the depot in the direction of the Chadian border.” .
He estimated that the containers were stolen before being abandoned “by a Chadian faction, believing they were weapons or ammunition.”
Taking advantage of the chaos and porous borders, various Chadian and Sudanese factions have established their rear bases in southern Libya, neighboring their countries, to engage in various trades.
The IAEA reported on Wednesday the disappearance of some 2.5 tons of natural uranium from a deposit in Libya, according to a statement sent to AFP.
During a visit on Tuesday, inspectors from the UN body “discovered that 10 containers with approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium concentrate (UOC, also called “yellow cake”) were not present where they had been declared by the authorities. ”, Director General Rafael Grossi wrote in a report to member states.
The IAEA said it would carry out “additional” investigations to “clarify the circumstances of the disappearance of this nuclear material and its current location.”
Source: BFM TV
