Libya
Libya is a North African country that sits between Tunisia and Egypt on the Mediterranean coast.
HALO began working here in 2018. We're focused on clearing urban bomb sites and educating adults and children on staying safe.
Situation in Libya
After the fall of Colonel Gaddafi in 2011, there was an absence of a strong central government in his place. This led to conflicts between rival armed groups and militias. The fighting displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Towns and cities were reduced to rubble, littered with unexploded mortar and cluster bombs.
Despite efforts by several humanitarian mine action organisations, there wasn't the necessary technical knowledge needed to make Libya’s cities safe. As a result, families desperate to rebuild their lives have been unable to return home.
Libya's decaying and dangerous arms dumps are thought to be responsible for the proliferation of weapons in North Africa. This is having a destabilising effect in the Sahel region, which stretches across 11 African countries.
HALO's work and impact in Libya
HALO first established a presence in Libya in 2018.
We've been able to draw on our 30 years of experience in mechanical clearance to make Libya’s urban centres safe.
The unprecedented levels of destruction, including multi-story buildings, and vast piles of rubble, demand innovative solutions. This includes adapting and armouring machines more commonly seen on civil engineering sites.
In June 2020, HALO teams began urgent work in the south of Tripoli. We assessed the scale of explosives contamination and began clearance. A year of fighting in the city had left over 200,000 people displaced.
An armoured excavator clears rubble of explosives
HALO's current operations
HALO is currently focused on the coastal cities of Sirte and Misrata. Sirte was the last bastion of Islamic State in North Africa until their defeat in 2016. The city experienced some of the worst fighting of Libya’s civil war. In collaboration with the Libyan Mine Action Centre, we recruited and trained clearance teams in Sirte.
One pile of rubble at a time, they spent several years clearing their city of explosive debris. Together we are making it safe for people to return home and rebuild their lives.
In 2025, HALO began operating an explosive ordnance disposal call-out team in Sirte. We respond to 80+ call-outs by local people and police each quarter.
In Misrata, two HALO clearance teams have focused on making a large ammunition store close to the airport safe. Unplanned explosions at the site in 2016 and 2020 caused dozens of casualties.
HALO Libya has a partnership with the UN Environment Programme to crush and recycle cleared rubble. It can then be used in local construction projects.
Meet Hussain, Libya Operations Manager
Hussain stayed in Sirte throughout the fighting, witnessing the pain and devastation as entire neighbourhoods were reduced to rubble.
He became one of HALO's first employees in the city. Today he guides our mechanical clearance teams as they sift through collapsed buildings to remove explosives.
Once the neighbourhoods are declared safe, families will be able to return home and begin to rebuild their lives.
"It is my duty to clean up the explosive debris in Sirte. It is my city and I am never going to leave. I want my children and grandchildren to grow up here. I want them to have a better life here in Libya."
