Joint military committee announces start of demining process

The Libyan Joint Military Committee 5 + 5 announced on Saturday that the country's demining process will begin on 10 February.

It's in preparation for the opening of the coastal road between Cyrenaica and Tripoli, a transit route between Libya's east and west, that has been closed since April 2019.

The Committee agreed to reopen the road last November in order to help citizens move more freely and help with the implementation of an October cease-fire agreement.

This called for the withdrawal of all armed forces from conflict lines and the departure of all mercenaries and foreign fighters within three months, which has not happened.

The Committee also welcomed Libya's new presidential council and unified government which will lead the country's transitional period until general elections are held at the end of this year.

Head of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) military committee, General Mraje Omami, said that they had recently held intensive meetings to see "what can be done in terms of achieving the comfort of the citizens and ending the fighting in Libya".

Oil-rich Libya was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and split the country between a U.N.-supported government in Tripoli and rival authorities based in country’s east, each side backed by an array of local militias as well as regional and foreign powers.