UAE arms prolong Sudan’s genocide, say frustrated US officials

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been accused by senior US officials of fuelling Sudan’s genocidal war by supplying advanced weaponry — including Chinese‑made drones — to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary faction responsible for mass atrocities in Darfur.

According to a Wall Street Journal investigation published earlier this week, US intelligence agencies have concluded that the UAE “sent increasing supplies of weapons including sophisticated Chinese drones to a major Sudanese militia this year,” bolstering a group “accused of genocide and pouring fuel on one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”

WSJ also cited separate reports compiled by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, which show an escalation in arms transfers from the UAE to the RSF since the spring, including “small arms, heavy machine guns, vehicles, artillery, mortars and ammunition.” 

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

A senior US official quoted in the report expressed deep frustration with Abu Dhabi’s role:

“The war would be over if not for the U.A.E.,” said Cameron Hudson, a former chief of staff to successive U.S. presidential special envoys for Sudan. “The only thing that is keeping them in this war is the overwhelming amount of military support that they’re receiving from the U.A.E.”

The RSF, a UAE‑backed force that grew from the notorious Janjaweed militias responsible for mass killings in Darfur two decades ago, has been accused by the US State Department of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including rape and the systematic murder of men, boys and infants “based on ethnicity.”

According to WSJ, the RSF’s renewed campaign this year included an expanded assault on North Darfur, where the group “tightened an 18‑month siege of El Fasher,” cutting off tens of thousands from food and medicine. Drone strikes in September killed dozens of people praying in a mosque.

The RSF’s rearmament came after a series of defeats earlier this year, culminating in its loss of Khartoum. “Rearmed, the militia survived that potential turning point in the war and launched a renewed offensive against the government that triggered some of the worst destruction of the two‑year war,” the paper said.

READ: Emirates of chaos: How the UAE fuels war and walks free

US officials told WSJ that battlefield imagery and signals intelligence had confirmed the flow of Emirati weapons, among them drones from the Chinese “Rainbow” series, including the drone, which can fly for 24 hours and deliver precision airstrikes. The drone was observed operating over Darfur by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab.

Intelligence obtained as recently as October identified weapons shipped “through Somalia and Libya, from where they were transferred to Sudan by road,” US, European, and Arab officials said. The UAE had previously denied supplying arms to Sudan after cargo flights through Chad in 2023 were exposed, claiming the shipments were “humanitarian.”

Analysts believe the UAE is betting on the RSF to secure its long‑term interests in Sudan — a country strategically located on the Red Sea and rich in gold reserves, much of which has historically been exported to Dubai. The Sudanese government cancelled a $6 billion Emirati port deal last year, a move that soured relations and spurred Abu Dhabi’s backing of the militia.

“The UAE’s shipments of weapons have frustrated U.S. officials hoping to contain the war,” the WSJ noted. One Western analyst said the Gulf monarchy’s behaviour reflects a broader pattern: “In these fractured theatres, weak governance and corruption enable a small, wealthy state like the U.A.E. to wield disproportionate influence,” said Justyna Gudzowska, Executive Director of The Sentry, which investigates conflict finance.

READ: Can the UAE’s promise to stop sending Sudan’s RSF weapons be believed?