ST
South African military instructors trained combatants affiliated with peace signatory groups in Darfur without the agreement of the Sudanese government, the UN panel of independent experts said.
In a report to the UN Security Council dated January 24, the experts tasked with monitoring arms embargo and sanctions imposed on Darfur in 2005 said that the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi and the Gathering of the Sudan Liberation Forces (GSLF) hired foreign trainers for their fighters.
“From December 2020 to July 2021, nine independently contracted South African nationals trained new recruits of the signatory movements at their training camps in North Darfur,” reads the report.
“The training took place at the SLA/MM training camp in Orusheng (near Abu Gamra) and the GSLF camp in Aboulia,” further added the experts based on their own investigations.
The Sudanese army denied having been informed about the training operations.
Also, a member of the Sovereign Council told the experts that such training by foreign instructors was “unacceptable”.
