UN Chief Guterres Urges Immediate Halt to Arms Flow in Sudan War

On the third anniversary of Sudan's war, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a stark plea for an immediate halt to the flow of weapons into the country.

The war erupted on April 15, 2023, when the Rapid Support Forces clashed with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of the country.

Al Jazeera

Guterres' call was echoed across international media, with Al Jazeera reporting that "the flow of weapons to Sudan must stop."

The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

The Sudan conflict has spilled far beyond its borders, with arms flows and mercenary movements destabilizing neighboring Chad and Libya.

Arms flows, including from the United Arab Emirates and destined for the rebels of the Rapid Support Forces, are weakening neighboring states deemed 'fragile.'

Al-Bayan

Arms and mercenaries form 'collateral circuits' in the sense that they feed off and depend on one another.

The collapse of internal military control in Sudan has allowed rapid proliferation of outbound arms flows from both the RSF and SAF stockpiles to regional markets.

Mercenary bosses have transported arms, provided escorts and screened entries, as part of a specific war economy that also involves illicit trades such as gold.

The RSF are led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” who built an empire thanks to the gold mines of his home region in Darfur.

Wagner and Sudan’s gold mines have been intertwined since 2017.

This victory coincided with major foreign backing from the Russian private military company Wagner, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Wagner exploits the country’s mineral resources and conveys travel between the Central African Republic and Sudan via Darfur.

The intermediary is named Mikhail Potepkine, who runs Meroe Gold, a subsidiary of M Invest.