Boeings identified in Reuters report carried weapons for Sudanese paramilitary, UN experts find
A draft UN report reveals that Boeing aircraft linked to a U.S. contractor were used to transport weapons and mercenaries for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces. The findings highlight the role of private logistics networks in fueling the ongoing Sudanese civil war.
Why it matters
This exposes the involvement of international private contractors in supplying paramilitary groups accused of human rights abuses.
United Nations experts have found that Boeing 727s linked to a U.S. military contractor’s business network transported mercenaries, weapons and drones for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, according to a draft UN report due to be published in September.
The findings provide additional important details about the role the aircraft played in supporting the RSF, the paramilitary force UN investigators have accused of committing genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. “The Panel received reliable information from four sources that the aircraft had transported RSF fighters and mercenaries, as well as military equipment, including drones and weapons,” the report said.
It cited two eyewitnesses in Nyala, the RSF’s main military and logistics hub in Darfur, and communications from two member States as sources of the information, without giving further details.
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