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Israeli and Bulgarian arms have been helping to fuel war in the South Sudan, according to a United Nations panel, with a number of U.N. leaders threatening to put an arms embargo in an attempt to end ongoing fighting in the world's newest nation.
According to a confidential report from the panel presented to the U.N. Security Council, arms deals involving Israeli and Bulgarian firms date back to 2014 or earlier.
The panel said that South Sudanese rebels were seen armed with Israeli-procured automatic rifles that were originally sold to Uganda in 2007. The weapons were likely to have been stolen from the South Sudanese government when soldiers defected or were captured.
"This evidence nevertheless illustrates the well-established networks through which weapons procurement is coordinated from suppliers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and then transferred through middlemen in eastern Africa to South Sudan," the report obtained by AFP stated. Experts on the panel said that the deal had also involved shipments from a middleman in Senegal.
In July 2014, Bulgarian Industrial Engineering, linked with Ugandan company Bosasy Logistics shipped small arms ammunitions and 4,000 assault rifles to Uganda, which were then transferred to South Sudan.
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The Security Council has threatened to put an arms embargo on South Sudan if Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon determines that President Salva Kiir is blocking the deployment of a regional forces approved by the U.N.
"I think an arms embargo should happen now and that's even very late The rainy season is coming to a close and that has frequently been the time of the year when people go back to military operations," said U.N. Peacekeeping Chief Herve Ladsous.
Civil war broke out in the country in 2013 as groups loyal to Kiir clashed with supporters of former Vice President Riek Machar after Kiir sacked Machar as his vice president for allegedly plotting against him.
The conflict has killed thousands, with an estimated 2.5 million people have fled from their homes as a result of the civil war. There has also been increasing concern over the use of child soldiers in the conflict. While Hillary Clinton was U.S. secretary of state she took charge of the sending of arms to South Sudan, violating a law prohibiting military assistance to countries which are known to arm children.
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