Carlson, Khristopher. 2022 ‘Ethiopia.’ Firearms and Ammunition Trafficking in Eastern Africa; 1, p. 11. Vienna: United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 1 June

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(…) are several trafficking routes into Ethiopia. One of these routes originates from South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state, and crosses eastward through the Illemi Triangle area and further east into southern Ethiopia. Such weapons are alleged to be sourced from militants affiliated with the Sudan People's Defense Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) and other armed groups. As the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) unfolds at a slower pace than expected, fighters have left cantonment sites and are allegedly selling ammunition and weapons to smugglers, to be re-sold in markets in Kibish and other towns inside the Illemi area.

(…) On the southern border with Kenya, weapons trafficked across this border are believed to be sourced, in part, from as far as the Gumuz and Gambela areas of Ethiopia, with others sourced from OLA stockpiles and smuggled into Kenya. On the Somalia border, Ethiopia has maintained relatively tight control, but since 2019, there have been fewer government patrols on this border, resulting in an increase in arms trafficking, with suppliers moving large quantities into Ethiopia's Ogaden Somali region.

Weapons trafficked from Somalia likely include supplies initially trafficking out of Yemen, and traffickers are believed to transit illicit firearms through Ethiopia to reach Kenya, and onward to other Member States in the Great Lakes region. Some of those arms are alleged to include weapons from al-Shabaab fighters, recovered by AMISOM troops and sold to local dealers, then trafficked into Ethiopia before reaching other neighboring states.

[AMISOM = African Union Mission to Somalia]

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