UAE has ‘thwarted illegal attempt’ to transfer ammunition to Sudan's army

UAE state media reported on Wednesday that security services had thwarted an attempt by Sudanese military leaders and others to illegally transfer ammunition to Sudan’s army. The report by the WAM news agency said the UAE authorities had found about five million rounds of ammunition on a private plane at an airport and had made a number of arrests.

There was no immediate response from Sudan’s armed forces, which have repeatedly accused the UAE of arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with which they have fought a two-year-old civil war. The UAE has denied those accusations, said Reuters.

The WAM report said that the plan to supply weapons had involved a group which included Sudan’s former intelligence chief, Salah Gosh.

“The defendants were arrested during an inspection of ammunition in a private aircraft at one of the country’s airports,” explained WAM, without specifying which airport or naming the people who were arrested. “The plane was carrying approximately five million rounds of 7.54 x 62mm Goryunov-type ammunition.”

Sudan has filed a genocide case at the International court of Justice accusing the UAE of arming the RSF.

READ: UN panel investigates UAE links to weapons seized in Darfur