On 22 February, a report from the OCCRP said that Congo-Brazzaville’s repressive government has quietly bought an arsenal from Azerbaijan, and opponents of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso say one recent cache is designed to tighten his grip on the nation. Since 2015, Congo-Brazzaville has bought a huge weapons stockpile from Azerbaijan, with over 500 tons of weapons delivered to the country in multiple shipments. It is claimed that previous shipments of weapons from Azerbaijan were used to fuel a brutal post-election offensive in 2016 that led to a humanitarian crisis. The report also says that Saudi Arabia was listed as a “sponsoring party” in at least 2 arms consignments sent in 2016 and 2017, around the same time Congo-Brazzaville’s admittance to OPEC was being negotiated. Azerbaijan has emerged as a key foreign ally of Congo-Brazzaville, providing its regime with discount arms and, perhaps more importantly, secrecy. Congo-Brazzaville has not reported any arms imports for more than 3 decades, and since there’s no arms embargo in place against the country, it isn’t required to do so. The report implicates airline Silk Way, registered in the BVI, and previously linked to the Aliyev family of Azerbaijan.
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