Sudanese authorities have announced that they seized a cargo of 72 boxes of weapons that arrived by air from Ethiopia, destined for use in "crimes against the state” as suspected.

A committee tasked with the dismantling of the government of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in April 2019 after a popular uprising is investigating the shipment, Sudan's state news agency (SUNA) reported.

The weapons had arrived in Ethiopia from Moscow in May 2019, the committee found.

Who is after the shipment?

The intended recipient of the weapons was unclear, but the committee did not rule out that they were meant for former Bashir government loyalists that the Sudanese authorities accused of trying to undermine the country's frail transition towards democracy, according to SUNA.

The boxes included weapons and night-vision goggles and arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines commercial flight on Saturday night, SUNA reported, without giving further details.

The committee pointed "to suspicions that these weapons were intended to be used in crimes against the state, impeding the democratic transition and preventing the transition to the civil state,” SUNA reported.

Ethiopian Airlines speaks on the matter

On its part, Ethiopian Airlines said that the weapons were hunting guns that were part of a legal, verified shipment, and in a statement, it announced that the guns had been held for a long time in Addis Ababa for verification and that the consignee it did not name had sued the airline in a Sudanese court, demanding it to deliver the guns and pay $250,000 in compensation.

It is worth noting that tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia have been running high due to a spillover of the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region and Ethiopia's construction of a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile.