European investigation confirms UAE involvement in fueling war and arming RSF
BERLIN, Nov. 03 (YPA) – Deutsche Welle investigation highlights that the Sudanese tragedy is deepening day by day since the outbreak of war in April 2023, following a dispute over the integration of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army.
The ongoing fighting in Darfur and cities in western Sudan has left more than 140,000 dead, according to UN estimates, while half of the country’s 51 million inhabitants depend on humanitarian aid.
Hunger and epidemics are widespread, and agricultural and health infrastructure is on the verge of complete collapse.
Intelligence reports and repeated UN reports indicate that the UAE is the main backer of the RSF militia.
Sudanese researcher Hajar Ali of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) told Deutsche Welle: “The RSF had a number of suppliers of weapons and fuel during the war, but the main supplier remains the UAE.”
She added that the evidence of Abu Dhabi’s involvement “is no longer undeniable,” noting that supply lines extend from the Libyan, Chadian, and Ugandan borders, through smuggling networks run by the UAE’s allies in the region, most notably Libyan General Khalifa Haftar.
According to intelligence reports published by the Wall Street Journal, sources from the US Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department revealed that weapons reaching the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) originate in the UAE and include Chinese-made drones, machine guns, heavy artillery, and various types of ammunition.
Behind this support lies a clear economic and geopolitical agenda for Abu Dhabi. The UAE, the largest importer of Sudanese gold, has a vested interest in maintaining the flow of this precious metal from mines located in areas under the RSF’s control.
Researcher Hajar Ali says: “It is clear that the UAE supports the militia to maintain its access to Sudan’s gold, which has become a key currency for financing the war and purchasing weapons.”
Thus, Sudanese gold has become a means of financing the killing machine, while the UAE uses its position as a global gold trading hub to launder this metal coming out of conflict zones, in flagrant violation of international sanctions and agreements.
Field sources confirm that arms shipments reach the RSF via the Africa Corps, the new name for the unit formerly known as the Russian Wagner Group, reinforcing suspicions of an undeclared tripartite alliance between Abu Dhabi, Moscow, and Haftar in Libya.
This alliance provides funding, supplies, and political cover for militias in Darfur and other areas.