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2021-02-26 Africa Subsaharan

Congo-Brazzaville Strongman Buys Secret Weapons Haul from Azerbaijan

[OCCRP] In January 2020, at the Turkish port of Derince on the eastern shores of the Sea of Marmara, a huge cache of weapons was loaded onto the MV Storm. Registered in the tax haven of Vanuatu, the ship set sail with an arsenal of mortar shells, multiple launch rockets, and explosives, en route from Azerbaijan to the Republic of the Congo, better known as Congo-Brazzaville.

In total, more than 100 tons of weaponry wound its way to a building that appears to be the headquarters of Congo-Brazzaville’s elite Republican Guard, according to a confidential cargo manifest obtained by OCCRP. The cargo, estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars, was just the latest in a series of at least 17 arms shipments sent by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense to the regime of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso since 2015, according to flight plans, cargo manifests, and weapons inventories obtained by OCCRP.

Saudi Arabia was listed as the “sponsoring party” on several of the cargo manifests reviewed by reporters. It’s unclear what that sponsorship entailed, but it could mean that Riyadh paid for the weapons or the cargo deliveries.
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Odd that the Saudis are sponsoring this — why do they care about the government of the Republic of the Congo? But it’s a busy place. In the eastern part of the country, we’re told, 122 gangs were active in North and South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika provinces last year.

Posted by badanov 2021-02-26 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top

#1 Change is always a constant, but unless night has become day I am not entirely certain you can use words like 'elite' and Congo in the same communication.

Posted by Cesare 2021-02-26 08:10|| 2021-02-26 08:10|| Front Page Top

#2 /\ There are many who would agree. There are tens of millions more who would also agree, if only they could speak from the grave.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-02-26 08:12|| 2021-02-26 08:12|| Front Page Top

11:15 Skidmark
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