IN SHORT: A photo is circulating on Facebook with the claim that it shows a woman casually selling bullets alongside grain in a market. The image is real but it actually shows an August 2025 arrest, where a woman was caught smuggling over a thousand bullets.
A photo making the rounds on Facebook claims to show a South Sudanese woman selling bullets on an otherwise normal market day.
In the image, timestamped “07/08/2025”, a woman sits on the ground in a light blue dress with red trim. In front of her is an open sack that appears to contain grains, possibly sorghum or millet, while another two sacks appear to be filled with metallic bullet cartridges. There is also a pile of cartridges on a piece of cardboard in front of her.
The caption reads: “A normal day in South Sudan. Bullets sold in the market alongside cereals.”
South Sudan gained independence in 2011 but has endured years of civil war and armed conflict. The country remains heavily militarised, with small arms and ammunition widely circulating. This easy access to weapons fuels violence at both community and national levels.
According to United Nations reports, heavily armed militias and local groups frequently use guns in clashes, cattle raids and revenge attacks, leaving civilians exposed and vulnerable.
Human rights groups warn that the unchecked spread of firearms among civilians has worsened intercommunal conflict and deepened insecurity across the country.
Estimates suggest that civilians in South Sudan now hold more than 3.2 million illegal small arms, a sharp rise since violence first erupted in December 2013.
This surge in weapons has created a vicious cycle of insecurity, where cattle raiding, a long standing cultural and economic practice, is intensified by the thriving trade in illicit firearms.
This photo has also appeared here and here with the same claim. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But what is the real story behind it? We checked.
Real photo shared out of context
A Google reverse image search confirmed that the photo is genuine and was taken in South Sudan, but it has been circulated in the wrong context.
One of the earliest instances of the photo Africa Check could find online was an 8 August 2025 report by Radio Tamazuj, a South Sudanese news outlet, titled “Woman arrested in Tonj South County for smuggling bullets”.
According to the article, the woman, identified only as Aguek, was arrested by security officers at a checkpoint while attempting to smuggle 1,121 bullets, hidden inside sacks of sorghum.
She was reportedly transporting the ammunition from Northern Bahr el Ghazal state to Tonj East county in Warrap state. The arrest took place in Tonj South, Warrap state, about 570 kilometres northwest of Juba, South Sudan’s capital.
The same photo was also published a day earlier by the Tonj South county commissioner’s press unit on Facebook.
Their statement reads: “County authority apprehended the woman who sneaked ammunition in Alol of Tonj South County. An operation carried out by Tonj South County security forces resulted in the arrest of people who were identified as conflict instigators, arms sneakers, and the confiscation of a major cache of ammunition mixed with sorghum.”
This viral photo has also been posted with the misleading claim here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
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