AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICA - The Ivorian Civil War weapons sustain the Central African instability

Tuesday, 22 November 2016 weapons  

Bangui (Agenzia Fides) - The crisis in the Central African Republic has demonstrated that not only the weapons looted in Libyan deposits sparked the wars in sub-Saharan Africa in the civil war of 2011, but there are also significant flows of illicit trafficking of weapons originated by other crises like the one in Mali and the Ivory Coast. This is what is highlighted in a recent report by the English NGO Conflict Armement Research (CAR), according to which 20% of AK47 rifles in Central Africa and more than 35% of 56-2 come from the Ivory Coast.
Following a long political and military crisis in Côte d'Ivoire (2002-2011) different small arms in the West African Country have remained in circulation, mostly belonging to guerrilla groups who controlled the north-west Ivory Coast. Part of these arsenals are now available on the illegal circuits ranging from West Africa to Sahel.
This shows the importance of the demobilization and disarmament activities of the contenders after reaching a peace agreement.
The report is the result of investigations that made it possible to recover the serial numbers of weapons and ammunition used by irregular forces. Besides guns from the Ivory Coast and Libya, the report emphasizes the role of Sudan, which also has its own factories of weapons and ammunition, in fueling the instability in the sub-Saharan area and Sahel. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/11/2016)


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