Sudan provides weapons for rebels in South Sudan, report says
Sudan has often denied having any links to rebels lead by David Yau Yau, who is based in the restive Jonglei State, but the research group says it has evidence that Khartoum airdropped weapons to the rebels between August and December last year.
The Swiss group released its report last week, shortly before a joint South Sudan/Sudan political and security committee meets to discuss the prickly issue of rebel groups that are based in both countries.
This is the first evidence provided by an independent organisation linking Sudan to the rebels fighting to oust the South Sudan government.
One of them is a type of Chinese riffle that has never before been observed in South Sudan called the CQ.”
The group’s researchers went to Pibor in Jonglei State in February where they documented weapons and ammunition in possession of a group led by former rebel commander, James Kubrin, who defected with more than a hundred men from David Yau Yau’s militia in December last year.
Rebels told the research group, Khartoum was the primary supplier of their weapons and ammunitions.
A careful examination of the weapons and ammunitions used by the rebels showed they were identical to those commonly used by the Sudanese army, an indication the weapons came from Khartoum.
Arms and Ammunition Tracing Desk Report: Weapons in service with David Yau Yau’s militia, Jonglei State, February 2013One of them is a type of Chinese riffle that has never before been observed in South Sudan called the CQ, which is a copy of an M16 and this has a type of calibre that has not been in use in South Sudan. The second was an A30 RPG-type rocket launcher that is being manufactured by the Yarmouk factory in Sudan,” said Jonah Leff, a researcher with the Small Arms Survey.
Rebels also told Small Arms Survey that their military supplies were delivered through airdrops orchestrated by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service, which they claim took place between August 2012 and December 2012,” according to the report.
During interviews conducted by the Swiss research group in Pibor, militia men gave very details accounts of air drops occurring between August and December of last year.
David Yau Yau
Defecting rebels claimed that a fixed-wing aircraft flew direct from Khartoum on the night of each drop and that the militia groups on the ground were in direct contact with the aircraft via satellite phone and marked each drop zone with a line of fires immediately prior to the drop, according to the report.
Though it has not been able to verify that the airdrops occurred, researchers believe Yau Yau’s entry into Pibor during the rainy season meant that it would have been impossible to supply all the weapons and ammunitions by road.
And if you look at the type of weapons and the amount of ammunitions that Yau Yau’s forces have been employing against the SPLA it is clear that they have needed some use of power and that this would have been impossible for them to bring in by foot and given the road conditions, we know that these were not transported by road. So it seems quite likely that at the time that the only way these weapons could have been transported is by air,” said Leff.
South Sudan’s Spokesperson Barnaba Marial Benjamin accuses Sudan of supporting Yau Yau’s rebellion in order to block South Sudan’s plans to build an alternative oil pipeline with Ethiopia.
A dispute over oil transit fees with Khartoum led to oil shut down early last year.
Last month the two governments reached a deal on oil exports through Sudanese facilities. Juba resumed pumping oil with crude expected to reach international markets in May.
Marial accused Sudan of working to block investments in Jonglei State because -- according to him -- authorities in Khartoum view a stable and economically viable South Sudan as a threat.
So, it is not true that the Sudan government is supporting the rebellion of Yau Yau or any other rebellions against South Sudan in the border.”
We have Total Oil Company that has got rights to exploit oil in that territory, a company that is ready to go in [but] the Sudan government is not conformable with this. So there are economic strategic reasons why the Sudan government does not want any stability in that area,” he said in a recent interview.
Khartoum has repeatedly denied having any ties to Yau Yau’s rebels and has counter-accused Juba of supporting rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
The Swiss research group said in separate recent report that South Sudan has provided logistical, financial and political support -- but not weapons -- to SPLM-North rebels fighting to overthrow the Sudanese government.
Speaking to journalists in Juba on Friday after meeting his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir, Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir said he wanted peace and normal relations with South Sudan and denied his government was supporting rebels fighting South Sudan.
So, it is not true that the Sudan government is supporting the rebellion of Yau Yau or any other rebellions against South Sudan in the border,” President Bashir said.
South Sudan accused Yau Yau’s rebels of killing five UN peacekeepers from India, seven civilians as well as injuring nine additional peacekeepers and civilians lastTuesday.
However, the rebels denied any involvement in the killings that were condemned by the UN, the South Sudan government and western governments.
South Sudan supported rebel group but did not provide weapons, report says
in Politics by Yau Yau first rebelled against Juba after he failed to win a parliamentary seat in the 2010 general elections, accusing the ruling SPLM party of rigging the elections.
In 2011, he accepted an amnesty offer by President Salva Kiir and returned to Juba where he was promoted to an SPLA general.
But last year he fled to Khartoum and started a rebellion against Juba in his home county of Pibor.
On Monday, a joint South Sudan/Sudan political and security committee is expected to meet to discuss the prickly issue of rebel groups that are based in both countries.
