Libya uranium: Missing barrels recovered, say eastern forces

Armed forces in eastern Libya say they have found about two and a half tonnes of uranium ore that were reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Ten drums containing the ore were found near the border with Chad, said the head of the forces' media unit.

The IAEA has not verified the claim.

The agency sounded the alarm after a visit by its inspectors earlier this week to the undisclosed site, which was not in government-controlled territory.

Since Libya's former leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in 2011, the country has been divided into competing political and military factions.

It is now split between an interim, internationally recognised government in the capital, Tripoli, and another one in the east, led by Gen Khalifa Haftar.

Neither is in control of the south, where the uranium was taken from.