TRIPOLI - Libya's parliament has passed a law to ban unlicensed possession of weapons and ammunition, the North African country's latest attempt to control the widespread illegal arms.

Any Libyan citizen may apply for weapon license within 90 days before the the law comes into effect in March, General National Congress (GNC) Spokesman Omar Humaidan told Xinhua on Monday.

Those who don't obey the law will face sever penalties, he added.

According to some estimate, about 22 million pieces of weapons, including light, medium and heady ones, are still awashing the North African country more than two years after the 2011 conflict.

The majority of them are out of the national security forces' hands and unregistered.

Despite the interim government's past efforts to control illegal weapons, few Libyans handed over their weapons and militia groups continued to keep their weapons, including heady artillery.