Newly uncovered videos and images show Canadian-made sniper rifles in the hands of Sudanese paramilitary fighters and a Libyan militia, as well as openly advertised online by Yemeni arms dealers, according to a CBC News visual investigation.

Sudan and Libya are both under Canadian arms embargoes, while Yemen faces targeted sanctions, precisely because they are home to groups known for committing widespread human rights abuses, torture and mass killings.

"If Canada was doing enough then we wouldn't see a pattern of the illicit diversion of Canadian weapons systems in violation of UN arms embargoes," said Kelsey Gallagher of Project Ploughshares, a Canadian peace research institute, reacting to CBC’s findings.

"I think it requires action from the Government of Canada."

In November, CBC News revealed that XLCR precision rifles made by Sterling Cross, a small-arms manufacturer based in Abbotsford, B.C., had been photographed in Sudan and used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

As reported by The Globe and Mail, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told journalists at the G20 summit in Johannesburg that month, "Believe me, I am looking into this very seriously." But no public action has followed.

CBC shared its newest findings about the Sterling Cross rifles with the Anand's office and Global Affairs Canada. 

In a statement, GAC said Canada maintains an embargo against Sudan and that there had been "no exceptions" to its risk assessment process on arms exports.

Disturbing video in Sudan

A disturbing video recently shared on social media captures a young fighter with the paramilitary RSF in Sudan abusing detainees on a truck, slapping them and hitting one captive with the stock of his rifle. CBC News has blurred portions of the video because of the risk some participants are underage.

WATCH | In a video from Facebook, a fighter for the RSF slaps a presumed captive from the civil war in Sudan, and hits him with the stock of his Canadian-made rifle:

Images were first provided to CBC News by an online user known as streakingdelilah. CBC independently sourced and verified all photos and videos, sharing them with researchers at Bellingcat and the Centre for Information Resilience, which runs the Sudan Witness project.

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"It is one of the most striking examples where we can clearly see the fighter holding the Canadian weapon as he hits the captive, committing clear abuses," said Sebastian Vandermeersch, a researcher from Bellingcat.

In a video from Facebook, a fighter for the RSF slaps a presumed captive from the civil war in Sudan, and hits him with the stock of his Canadian-made rifle. (Facebook)

Although shared recently, the video from Sudan was likely filmed in June 2024, when the RSF captured Jebel Moya, a region south of the capital, Khartoum.

Bellingcat was able to geolocate the video to the area and also identified additional videos from Jebel Moya featuring detainees being subjected to degrading treatment, such as being forced to mimic animal sounds or pledge allegiance to the RSF.

'We smuggle it': Yemeni arms dealer

Another set of videos shared with CBC News eventually led to a corner store in the commercial heart of Sanaa, Yemen, that operates as an illicit arms bazaar. Its walls are lined with machine guns, sniper rifles and at least one rocket launcher.

The store is run by three brothers, including an arms dealer named Ibrahim, who advertises his inventory on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. In a 2024 video, Ibrahim is seen firing a rifle into a water reservoir just a 30-minute drive west of Sanaa.

In a video first seen on YouTube, a Yemeni arms dealer fires a Sterling Cross rifle into the water at a dam west of Sanaa. (YouTube)

CBC News verified the imagery by geolocating the video to the precise dam, matching the distinctive ridgeline shown in the footage.

While the arms supplier describes the weapon as an "American sniper rifle," CBC’s visual investigations team identified it as the Sterling Cross XLCR. In two videos, the company’s distinctive logo can be seen on the weapon.

"This one has already been sold. It was sold, my dear, for $12,000," Ibrahim’s brother, Ahmad, said in a voice memo to a freelance journalist who was inquiring about the weapon without revealing that he’s working for CBC News. 

Describing the gun as a "unique piece," the dealer said "we smuggle it" into the country.

Other imagery provided to CBC revealing a Sterling Cross rifle for sale was traced to a second dealer, also in Sanaa. The second dealer, contacted by CBC, also confirmed selling the weapon.

Both dealers offered to supply other brand-new weapons from China, Russia and the United States.

An illustration shows a picture of a Sterling Cross rifle first seen on a Yemeni arms dealer's Instagram page, with a magnified view of a potential serial number for the weapon. (Instagram)

In one image shared by a Yemeni arms dealer, CBC identified a serial number for a Sterling Cross rifle.

A serial number "would allow independent researchers or law enforcement to track when and where a weapon system was diverted," said Gallagher of Project Ploughshares.

CBC shared the serial number with Sterling Cross and the Canadian government but received no response regarding how the weapon reached the Yemeni black market.

Libyan militia links

Additional images shared with CBC News were geolocated to Libya, a country that has faced instability since 2011.

Wolfram Lacher, a Libya researcher from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, identified the insignia of the Judicial Security Apparatus on the same social media page that originally shared images that included the Sterling Cross rifle. Lacher said the unit is "a spinoff of a larger group" called the Special Deterrence Force, or RADA.

An illustration shows how CBC News matched distinctive angles and window patterns to these highrise buildings in Tripoli. (Facebook, Google Earth, Engin Çatak/Google Maps)

"This was actually an area that was being fought over both in 2022 and in 2025," said Lacher. "This group, the Special Deterrence Force, was involved in these conflicts."

The Special Deterrence Force also controls the Mitiga prison, which has "has been notorious for abuses, for torture and for arbitrary detention," he said.

Prison conditions were so severe that the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against RADA leaders for crimes against humanity.

Canada has prohibited arms exports to Libya. Previous investigations have implicated the Streit Group, a Canadian-owned armoured vehicle manufacturer, in the illicit transfer of equipment to Libyan factions via the United Arab Emirates.

Experts point to possible U.A.E. origin

While it’s not certain how these weapons ended up in these countries, experts point to the United Arab Emirates as a central player in rerouting weapons to military groups across the region.

"The thread that binds these three cases together is that you have U.A.E. support for clients in these conflicts. These are three cases where the U.A.E. is known to have massively supplied weapons," said Lacher. 

"The stakeholders that the U.A.E. support are generally problematic to begin with," said Emadeddin Badi, a senior fellow at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. "These are non-state armed groups with a track record of brutality and crimes against humanity."

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CBC reached out to the U.A.E. Embassy for comment but did not receive a response. 

The U.A.E., has in the past, denied any involvement in Sudan and Libya. In 2025, it also said it would withdraw its forces from Yemen.

Government reports on arms exports indicate 113 rifles were shipped from Canada to the U.A.E. in 2019 and 2020. 

In March 2019, Sterling Cross posted an image on Instagram of roughly 80 XLCR rifles being inspected before delivery.

"These weapon systems are procured for a reason," Gallagher said. "The government of Canada has to keep stringent controls... otherwise we see their illicit proliferation in the region."