Libyan armed group says barrels of missing natural uranium recovered

A Libyan armed group claims to have found the barrels of natural uranium that went missing in southern Libya.

A spokesman for the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), Khaled Al Mahjoub said on Facebook that the barrels were found 3 miles (5 km) from a warehouse where they were being stored.

A video posted by Mahjoub showed a man wearing a hazmat suit vocally counting 18 blue barrels that allegedly contain the missing natural uranium. The IAEA had said that “10 drums” were missing from the warehouse.

A total of 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium ore concentrate were reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] this week, after inspectors conducted verification activities Tuesday.

“We are aware of media reports that the material has been found, the Agency is actively working to verify them,” the IAEA said on Thursday. CNN reached out to the IAEA to confirm whether the barrels found by the LNA are the same ones reported missing by the UN nuclear watchdog.

The barrels were stored in a guarded warehouse in southern Libya, but the guards were stationed further away over concerns of radioactivity, Mahjoub said in a post on Facebook.