U.N Accuses Ukraine Of Weapons Supply To South Sudan

United Nations committee has accused Ukraine of supplying weapons to South Sudan, pointing out to the case of Ilyunshinil-76 aircraft that was being transported to Uganda in January this year.

The UN report has mentioned the case of an Ilyunshinil-76 aircraft that was transported from Ukraine to Uganda on January 27, 2017 and said the country is perpetuating the conflict in the East African country, now in its fourth year, Sudan Tribune reported Sunday.

Border areas between South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda were key entry points for arms to Juba, the U.N panel of experts report stated.

The plane’s manifest indicated that it contained two L-39 jets and engines provided by Musket OU, a company based in Tallinn, and that the flight was operated by the Ukrainian defence ministry.

“The Ukrainian Government confirmed that the two jets were listed as being operated by the Ugandan military and that the end user certificates indicated they were to be used only for pilot training,” partly reads a section of the U.N reported quoted in media outlets.

“We are further investigating if the planes were taken to war-torn South Sudan following reports that an aircraft with obscure markings was parked at Juba airport.” the experts said.

Also being investigated, the U.N panel of experts said in the report, is a Hungarian fighter jet pilot, Tibor Czingali, contracted by the Ugandan Air Force, but believed to be flying a South Sudan aircraft.

According to the U.N panel of experts, recently received documents from a confidential source detailed a contract, signed in June 2014 by two National Security Service officers for a company based in the Seychelles to provide weapons to the South Sudanese Internal Security Bureau, headed by Akol Koor.

A confidential U.N report released in March slammed South Sudan government for spending more than half its budget on weapons and security while 100,000 people are dying of starvation.

The report also called for an arms embargo on South Sudan, a measure supported by US, but was rejected by the U.N Security Council during a vote in December, 2016.

"Weapons continue to flow into South Sudan from diverse sources, often with the coordination of neighboring countries," said the report by a panel of experts.

The experts also found a "preponderance of evidence (that) shows continued procurement of weapons by the leadership in Juba" for the army, the security services, militias and other "associated forces".