‘Azerbaijani arms manufacturers are sending weapons to Ukraine via Sudan’
AFP
It has been reported that Azerbaijani arms manufacturers are sending weapons to Ukraine via Africa, with countries such as Switzerland and Germany also on the route.
The Rwanda-based Umuseke newspaper reported that Azerbaijani arms manufacturers, along with their NATO partners, are using smuggling to supply arms to Ukraine via war-torn Sudan.
Sources speaking to Umuseke stated that this situation poses a threat to Africa in general, given that the continent maintains its neutrality in the conflict between the West and Russia.
One of the sources explained that the CIHAZ Industrial Association, an organization affiliated with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, delivered a large quantity of weapons to Ukraine via a well-developed route spanning three continents, including Africa.
The source noted that the weapons were delivered to Port Sudan, Sudan’s main maritime logistics hub. “Because this African country is torn apart by civil war, it is very easy to convert the cargo into Sudanese weapons a second time, without any inspections. This way, the true manufacturer’s name is concealed,” he said.
The source explained that the weapons from Port Sudan were transported to Hamburg, Germany, by the Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, and from there, the cargo was transported by land to Ukraine.
The sources believe that such a complex shipment plan may be intended to mislead Russia, one of Azerbaijan’s main political and commercial partners. If this situation were to surface, Russia could impose sanctions on Azerbaijan, with which it shares a border on the Caspian Sea.
In 2022, evidence of CIHAZ’s military shipments to Ukraine was published in the media of Kazakhstan, another Caspian country.
Today, with Africa also on the route, some of the arms shipments could end up in the hands of rebels in Sudan, clearly further deteriorating the fragile peace in North and East Africa
