Johannesburg - A confidential report says North Korean weapons barred by the United Nations sanctions ended up in the hands of UN peacekeepers in Africa.

The annual report by a UN panel of experts, obtained by The Associated Press, illustrates how Pyongyang evades sanctions imposed for its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes to co-operate "on a large scale" in Africa. That includes military training and construction.

That's despite North Korea facing its toughest UN sanctions in decades.

Among the report's findings was the "largest seizure of ammunition in the history of sanctions" against North Korea.

Africa has the world's lowest rate of reporting on monitoring the UN sanctions on North Korea. The UN report says just 11 of the continent's 54 countries reported to the panel of experts last year.