UN approves high seas crackdown on Libya arms smuggling

The European Union proposed the council resolution to expand its naval operation in the Mediterranean, which the 15-member Security Council authorized in October to seize and dispose of boats operated by human traffickers.

The council resolution expressed concern that "arms and related materiel are being used by terrorist groups operating in Libya, including ISIL (Islamic State)."

French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters ahead of the vote that the resolution has "the potential to be a game-changer," since a large quantity of arms is smuggled via ship off the coast of Libya.

Libya UN envoy Martin Kobler told the Security Council last week that Libya was awash with arms - 20 million pieces of weaponry in the North African state of six million people.

"These weapons do not fall from the sky, but come increasingly through illegal shipments by sea and by land. 

The arms fuel the conflict. These shipments must end if there is any serious hope of bringing peace to Libya," he said.