Uganda has breached a UN arms embargo by deploying troops to South Sudan in support of the government, a UN expert report said Wednesday.
The report noted that fighting intensified in March between the South Sudanese army and militias backing former Vice-President Riek Machar after his September indictment for crimes against humanity.
UN experts said Kampala confirmed sending Ugandan forces at President Salva Kiir’s request, marking the start of a growing deployment east of Juba.
The panel said additional Ugandan soldiers, equipment and armoured vehicles have arrived since March 2025, expanding a presence that violates the 2018 embargo.
Uganda also confirmed deploying three military helicopters, which the report said likely constitutes another breach of UN restrictions.
South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, plunged into a civil war that killed an estimated 400,000 people before a 2018 peace deal halted major fighting.
The unity government formed under that agreement has struggled to hold elections or integrate rival forces, deepening fears of renewed conflict.
UN experts described a country where political stagnation and years of neglect have splintered armed groups into shifting alliances of soldiers, defectors and community militias.
They warned that government forces, strained by shortages and low morale, increasingly rely on indiscriminate aerial bombardments to hit opposition positions.
The Security Council in May urged an immediate halt to the violence and voiced alarm over reports of barrel bombs used in populated areas.
