Sudan seizes weapons shipment originating from Russia onboard Ethiopian plane

Sudan’s authorities seized a shipment of weapons from an Ethiopian Airlines plane arriving at Khartoum airport from Ethiopia, state news agency SUNA reported on Sunday.

The plane which landed in Khartoum on Saturday was carrying weapons which originated from Russia.

“The weapons arrived in Ethiopia coming from the Russian capital, Moscow, in May 2019. The Ethiopian authorities had detained them there for the past two years, but without warning Addis Ababa allowed them to be transported to Khartoum on a civilian passenger plane,” SUNA reported citing Sudanese officials.

The shipment contained 72 boxes of weapons and night vision binoculars. Sudanese officials believe the weapons were intended to be used in “crimes against the state, impeding the democratic transition and preventing the transition to the civil state.”

Sudan has been undergoing a rocky transition since the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 after mass protests against him.

The country is currently ruled by a joint civilian-military council.

The report comes at a time of tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia over Ethiopian farmers' use of a fertile border region claimed by Sudan, as well as being at odds over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

With AFP