By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli 27 March 2014:
A series of explosions at the Sebha Ammunition Depot on Tuesday were deliberate according . . .[restrict]to the Misrata-led Third Force which is currently providing security in the southern town.
Unexploded ordinance which had been stored in 40 underground bunkers at the depot was blown up by an unknown group, according to the spokesperson for the force, Ala Al-Huwaik.
No one was inured or killed in the blasts.
“The Third Force went to the camp on Monday to inspect it, dispose of equipment, open the roads and secure the area,” he told the Libya Herald. It then left.
“Following initial investigations, we’ve come to the conclusion that the explosion was deliberate, carried out people stealing the ammunition,” he said. He did not say who those responsible might be.
The camp, to the northwest of the town near the formerly named Fattah district (now locally known as Hay Al-Grad because of missile attacks from there during clashes in January), was heavily bombed by NATO during the revolution. However, according to Al-Huwaik, an huge amount of ammunition “remained intact”.
The camp was taken over by Qaddafi followers in January at the same time as they took over the Tamenhint airbase and was again bombed, by the Libya air force. It was retaken at the beginning of February.
There have been a number of ammunition explosions and thefts around the country since the revolution, with depots being left largely unguarded. In November, there was a massive ammunition explosion in Brak Al-Shatti which at least ten people were reported killed. [/restrict]
