Khartoum airdropped weapons and ammunition last year to the Yau Yau militia in Jonglei, South Sudan. This is according to a report from the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss research group, published on Friday.
Defected commanders and members of the Yau Yau militia said the airdrops were planned and coordinated by the Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service and took place between August 2012 and December 2012.
The group members, who defected in December 2012 and are now led by James Kubrin, said a fixed-wing aircraft flew direct from Khartoum to supply the militia to fight the government of South Sudan. The rebels had direct contact with the aircrafts via satellite phone and marked each drop zone with a line of fires prior to the drop.
The variety of ammunition found with James Kubrin’s group has never before been documented or observed in South Sudan. Given the group’s very recent defection, it is likely that their ammunition and weapons stock is similar to those still in the hands of the Yau Yau militia, the researchers concluded,
Both Sudan and South Sudan have accused each other repeatedly of supporting rebel movements seeking to topple or undermine their governments. The matter has been nominally resolved by the Cooperation Agreement and revised timetable for it signed last month, but insurgencies still flare in Jonglei, Darfur and South Kordofan especially.
Link to Small Arms Survey report (pdf).
Picture: Sudanese ammunition discovered at defected Yau Yau-group