Military Forces of the East Libyawho are close to marshal Khalifa Haftardiscovered containers of uranium that had disappeared from a facility in Libya, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday.

Khaled al-Majoub, spokesman for the Libyan National Army, a force backing Major General Khalifa Haftar, said in a statement that 10 barrels were found near the warehouse where they were taken. However, in a separate video released by him, workers are seen counting them and taking out 18 people.

The IAEA, at a confidential briefing for member countries, said it discovered the disappearance of uranium during an inspection at an unnamed location. The audit was postponed last year due to the situation in Libya.

Majoub said the barrels were stored in a warehouse near the Chadian border that IAEA experts visited in 2020 and sealed the entrance with red wax. Barrels were found at a distance of 5 kilometers from there. He assumes, he said, that a group from Chad raided the warehouse and took the barrels, hoping they would contain weapons and ammunition, and then abandoned them.

The IAEA said it has been informed that the material has been found and is working to verify that it is indeed free of uranium. According to his announcement to member countries, the uranium (yellow pie) was in a place that is not controlled by the government and access to it is difficult.

The Libyan National Army under the command of Haftar for six years (2014-20) fought with the forces of western Libya and in 2019 launched an offensive to capture Tripoli. After a ceasefire was reached, the political process for the reunification of the country came to a halt. Forces in eastern Libya deny the legitimacy of the internationally recognized government based in Tripoli.

The Libyan National Army was supported in the war by the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which, according to a UN panel of experts, deployed up to 1,200 fighters in Libya. From time to time, fighters from Chad also fought on the side of the LES.

^{Source: APE, AFP, Reuters.}