Turkish Rifles from Sudan Seized in South Sudan

(JUBA) – A United Nations report submitted to the Security Council on 1 July 2025 warns that the ongoing war in Sudan is no longer a domestic crisis but is spreading into neighbouring South Sudan, fuelling instability and breaching international arms embargoes.

The confidential report by the UN Panel of Experts highlights that advanced weapons, looted during battles in Khartoum by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are now surfacing across South Sudan’s northern borders. These include high powered, Turkish made rifles such as BRG 55s and MKA 556s produced by HUSAN Arms, along with models from UTAS Defence. Many are fitted with advanced scopes, significantly more sophisticated than the region’s usual arms.

According to intelligence and border patrol sources, South Sudanese authorities have intercepted several of these weapons since late 2024. Many were seized in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and the contested Abyei area, zones vulnerable due to their porous borders and contested administrative control.

The report outlines a growing black market network where looted weapons are exchanged for essentials like food, fuel and medicine. This underground trade benefits both Sudanese militias and criminal networks in South Sudan, contributing to insecurity in both nations. The UN warned this “illicit two way economy” is sustaining war efforts in Sudan and feeding local unrest in South Sudan.

Tensions rose sharply after Sudanese forces reclaimed the city of Wad Madani in early 2025. Graphic footage posted online allegedly showed the execution of South Sudanese nationals accused of aiding RSF fighters. These images sparked outrage in South Sudan, leading to retaliatory attacks on Sudanese citizens residing within the country.

In response, the Government of South Sudan publicly condemned the killings as terrorism, but also deployed security forces to protect Sudanese civilians, receiving praise for its measured approach despite public anger.

The situation further deteriorated in December 2024 when Juba released long delayed results of a referendum on the final status of the oil rich and disputed Abyei region. The UN report warns that this move could provoke a “severe reaction” from Khartoum, which views Abyei as part of its sovereign territory.

The UN’s concerns are compounded by ongoing enforcement of a 2018 arms embargo on South Sudan. The Panel of Experts says the appearance of smuggled, high grade weaponry not only violates the embargo but risks reigniting intercommunal violence and damaging the fragile peace process agreed in 2018.

The report concludes that Sudan’s internal war is exporting chaos into an already fragile region.

“The war in Sudan is exporting instability,” the panel wrote bluntly, pointing to the regional consequences of unchecked arms proliferation and unresolved territorial disputes.

South Sudan, itself still recovering from a decade of conflict, is now at risk of being pulled back into violence, not only through direct arms flows but also via political tensions like those surrounding Abyei. With humanitarian needs already high and international support stretched thin, further insecurity could push South Sudan closer to another crisis.

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