Evidence suggests UAE funding Sudan militia
Evidence has emerged of dozens of cargo planes from the United Arab Emirates landing at a small airstrip in Chad that some UN experts and diplomats suspect is being used to funnel arms into Sudan, flight data and satellite images show according to Reuters on December 12th.
Since Sudan’s war began last April, at least 86 flights from the UAE have headed for an airstrip at Amdjarass in eastern Chad, three-quarters of which being operated by carriers accused by the UN of transporting Emirati weapons to actors in Libya, according to the flight data and corporate documents reviewed by Reuters.
The UAE says it has been sending aid to Sudan, not arms, and rejected a UN report in January that cited “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, a militia group fighting Sudan’s army in a war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.
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Footage reviewed by Reuters from Amdjarass filmed in 2024 shows two pallets on the tarmac stacked with khaki crates, some of them labelled with the UAE flag. Reuters is withholding the exact date and origin of the footage due to the risk of reprisals.
Three weapons experts, two of whom have worked as UN investigators, said it was unlikely the crates were carrying aid, which is often packaged in cardboard boxes wrapped in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its light weight, while crates in the video appear to be metal and are stacked low on the pallets.
One of the experts, who has worked as a UN weapons inspector and asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the information, said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes.”
He added that the long and thin proportions of cases on the right-hand pallet indicate they are likely to contain weapons. Reuters couldn’t verify independently the contents of the crates.
The UAE government said in a statement to Reuters that it had sent 159 relief flights with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical aid, partly to supply a field hospital it has established in Amdjarass.
“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.
Senior RSF official brigadier general Omar Hamdan denied that the RSF received any outside support. He told reporters in Nairobi in November 18th that the RSF used weapons and ammunition produced at factories in Sudan, without identifying the factories.
The RSF did not respond to requests for further comment for this story.
Sudanese army spokesperson brigadier general Nabil Abdullah said the supply of Emirati arms to the RSF was a “tangible fact.” “The flow of weapons and equipment from the UAE in this way to the rebel Rapid Support Militia has not stopped since the outbreak of this war.”
Reuters identified 170 flights in total, using satellite imagery from Planet, Maxar and BlackSky, by planes that are based in the UAE that headed on the route for Amdjarass since the war began.
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Of those, Reuters was able to verify that at least 86 originated in UAE airports, including Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, although it was unable to confirm the point of origin of the other flights due to gaps in flight tracking.
The Reuters review of the 170 flights headed for eastern Chad found that around half of the flights were operated by four airlines that a UN panel of experts accused of channelling UAE arms to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar in 2019-2020, according to the flight tracking data.
Reuters, Middle East Eye
