adminSouth Sudanese government forces have acquired two jet fighters and truckloads of small arms ammunition and were seeking to manufacture bullets, UN sanctions monitors said in a confidential report seen by Reuters news agency.
The report on arms flows and security threats to South Sudan added that opposition troops have not received any significant arms shipments from abroad.
The monitors also said that armed government actors were imposing “debilitating movement restrictions” on UN peacekeepers.
They warned that the economy of the world’s newest nation had effectively collapsed due to government policies that included buying weapons instead of funding social services.
Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba, said that the report is likely to anger those who should benefit from social services, which are already under-funded.
“South Sudan’s economy has been in freefall since it floated its currency against the dollar in December last year,” she said.
“Half of South Sudan’s population live beneath the poverty line according to the National Bureau of Statistics. South Sudan’s consumer price index is up 700 percent from this time last year. It is difficult for ordinary civilians to get food from the market.
“Some civil servants can earn as little as 2 or 3 dollars per month, which makes it hard for them to be be able to sustain their families.”
More than 200 000 people rely on humanitarian assistance, Morgan added. — Reuters
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