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UNSMIL Welcomes Opening of Libya’s Coastal Highway

The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)
The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)
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UNSMIL Welcomes Opening of Libya’s Coastal Highway

The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)
The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)

Libya witnessed on Friday the official opening of the vital coastal highway linking the east and west of the country after a two-year closure.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) welcomed the move and congratulated the Libyan people for this "landmark and historic achievement."

"The opening of the Coastal Road is another step in strengthening peace, security, and stability in the country, and in the unification of its institutions," announced Special Envoy Jan Kubis.

He indicated that this is also a signal to the country's leaders to set aside their differences and work together to implement the roadmap and hold elections on December 24.

"The next major step in the ceasefire agreement's implementation process is to commence the withdrawal of all mercenaries, foreign fighters, and forces from Libya without delay," Kubis stressed.

The 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) announced the opening of the coastal road on Friday. The commission includes representatives of the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the unity government's forces.

The opening ceremony was held at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte, and attended by JMC members, local officials, and the UNSMIL delegation. Hundreds of cars and trucks crossed the highway into the western region.

JMC member Major General Ahmed Abu Shahma said that this would end the suffering of citizens and accelerate the delivery of all necessary and humanitarian aid to all cities.

Abu Shahma explained that the committee seeks to remove mercenaries and foreign forces from Libyan territories, citing his talks with Kubis to help communicate with the relevant countries that have troops on Libyan soil to "get them out."

He said that the military engineering and demining teams are working to clear mines and secure the movement of travelers and cattle.

In a televised speech, Haftar cautioned that peace will not be possible “unless all foreign forces and mercenaries leave the Libyan territories unconditionally" and urged the international community to double its efforts to achieve this end.

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Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
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Shiny and Deadly, Unexploded Munitions a Threat to Gaza Children

Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File
Many casualties are children desperate for something to do or searching through the rubble. Eyad BABA / AFP/File

War has left Gaza littered with unexploded bombs that will take years to clear, with children drawn to metal casings maimed or even killed when they try to pick them up, a demining expert said.

Nicholas Orr, a former UK military deminer, told AFP after a mission to the war-battered Palestinian territory that "we're losing two people a day to UXO (unexploded ordnance) at the moment."

According to Orr, most of the casualties are children out of school desperate for something to do, searching through the rubble of bombed-out buildings sometimes for lack of better playthings.

"They're bored, they're running around, they find something curious, they play with it, and that's the end," he said.

Among the victims was 15-year-old Ahmed Azzam, who lost his leg to an explosive left in the rubble as he returned to his home in the southern city of Rafah after months of displacement.

"We were inspecting the remains of our home and there was a suspicious object in the rubble," Azzam told AFP.

"I didn't know it was explosive, but suddenly it detonated," he said, causing "severe wounds to both my legs, which led to the amputation of one of them."

He was one of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning home during a truce that brought short-lived calm to Gaza after more than 15 months of war, before Israel resumed its bombardment and military operations last month.

For Azzam and other children, the return was marred by the dangers of leftover explosives.

'Attractive to kids'

Demining expert Orr, who was in Gaza for charity Handicap International, said that while no one is safe from the threat posed by unexploded munitions, children are especially vulnerable.

Some ordnance is like "gold to look at, so they're quite attractive to kids", he said.

"You pick that up and that detonates. That's you and your family gone, and the rest of your building."

Another common scenario involved people back from displacement, said Orr, giving an example of "a father of a family who's moved back to his home to reclaim his life, and finds that there's UXO in his garden".

"So he tries to help himself and help his family by moving the UXO, and there's an accident."

With fighting ongoing and humanitarian access limited, little data is available, but in January the UN Mine Action Service said that "between five and 10 percent" of weapons fired into Gaza failed to detonate.

It could take 14 years to make the coastal territory safe from unexploded bombs, the UN agency said.

Alexandra Saieh, head of advocacy for Save The Children, said unexploded ordnance is a common sight in the Gaza Strip, where her charity operates.

"When our teams go on field they see UXOs all the time. Gaza is littered with them," she said.

'Numbers game'

For children who lose limbs from blasts, "the situation is catastrophic", said Saieh, because "child amputees require specialized long-term care... that's just not available in Gaza".

In early March, just before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel blocked all aid from entering Gaza. That included prosthetics that could have helped avoid long-term mobility loss, Saieh said.

Unexploded ordnance comes in various forms, Orr said. In Gaza's north, where ground battles raged for months, there are things like "mortars, grenades, and a lot of bullets".

In Rafah, where air strikes were more intense than ground combat, "it's artillery projectiles, it's airdrop projectiles", which can often weigh dozens of kilograms, he added.

Orr said he was unable to obtain permission to conduct bomb disposal in Gaza, as Israeli aerial surveillance could have mistaken him for a militant attempting to repurpose unexploded ordnance into weapons.

He also said that while awareness-raising could help Gazans manage the threat, the message doesn't always travel fast enough.

"People see each other moving it and think, 'Oh, they've done it, I can get away with it,'" Orr said, warning that it was difficult for a layperson to know which bombs might still explode, insisting it was not worth the risk.

"You're just playing against the odds, it's a numbers game."