Investigation Reveals UAE’s Use of Aid to Escalate Sudan Conflict, Says U.S
A U.S. investigation has confirmed that the UAE is using humanitarian aid as a front to escalate the civil war in Sudan, smuggling weapons and deploying drones under the guise of the Emirates Red Crescent.
The investigation, reported by The New York Times, revealed that Emirati drones are flying over Sudan’s vast desert borders, guiding arms convoys that smuggle illegal weapons to fighters accused of committing atrocities and ethnic cleansing.
According to the report, these drones are circling a besieged city at the heart of Sudan’s severe famine, aiding a brutal paramilitary group that has bombed hospitals, looted food supplies, and set fire to thousands of homes, as stated by aid organizations.
Despite these actions, the drones are being operated from a base the UAE claims to be part of a humanitarian mission to aid Sudan, which it describes as a crucial effort to save lives and combat famine in Africa’s largest ongoing conflict.
A Dangerous Double Game
The investigation revealed that the United Arab Emirates is engaged in a perilous double game in Sudan, a nation engulfed in one of the world’s most severe civil wars. While seeking to strengthen its position as a regional powerbroker, oil-rich Abu Dhabi is intensifying its secretive efforts to support the winning side in Sudan by financing, arming, and deploying drones to the fighters advancing across the country, according to officials, internal diplomatic memos, and satellite imagery analyzed by The New York Times.
Simultaneously, the Emirates is portraying itself as a promoter of peace, diplomacy, and international aid. It is even utilizing one of the world’s most recognizable humanitarian symbols—the Red Crescent, the equivalent of the Red Cross—as a façade for its covert operations to deploy drones into Sudan and smuggle weapons to the fighters, as evidenced by satellite images and U.S. officials.
The conflict in Sudan, a gold-rich country with a 500-mile coastline along the Red Sea, has been exacerbated by various foreign powers, including Iran and Russia, which are supplying arms to the factions involved in hopes of gaining an advantage or achieving their strategic objectives. Meanwhile, the Sudanese population is suffering amid this turmoil.
Officials indicate that the UAE plays the most significant and influential role in this dynamic. While it publicly commits to alleviating Sudan’s hardships, it is reportedly contributing to them behind the scenes.
Hunger is pervasive in Sudan, where a famine was declared last month following 18 months of fighting that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of 10 million people, marking what the United Nations calls the world’s largest displacement crisis. Aid organizations describe the situation as a “historic” disaster.
The UAE asserts that it has made it clear it is neither arming nor supporting any of the warring factions in Sudan. Instead, it claims to be alarmed by the “rapidly accelerating humanitarian crisis” and advocates for an “immediate ceasefire.”
For over a year, the UAE has been secretly supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group battling the Sudanese army for control of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country.
An investigation by The New York Times exposed the UAE’s arms smuggling efforts, which were subsequently corroborated by U.N. investigators in January, who discovered “credible” evidence of the UAE violating a two-decade-old arms embargo on Sudan.
The UAE is now intensifying its covert efforts, deploying powerful Chinese-made drones from a military-style airfield it has expanded in Chad. Satellite images show newly built hangars and a drone control station. Many planes using the airport have previously delivered weapons to the UAE in other conflict zones, such as Libya, where arms embargo violations have also been reported.
U.S. officials state that the UAE is utilizing the airport to send advanced military drones to provide intelligence to the RSF and escort weapons shipments, protecting them from ambushes. The New York Times identified the drone type as the Wing Loong II, similar to the U.S. Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper.
Images reveal an ammunition depot at the airport and a Wing Loong drone control station near a hospital run by the UAE for RSF fighters. The Wing Loong can fly for 32 hours, cover up to 1,000 miles, and carry a dozen missiles or bombs. While the drones have not conducted airstrikes in Sudan, they are being used for surveillance and targeting in the chaotic battlefield.
“That makes them a huge force multiplier,’” says Michael Dahm, a senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in Virginia.
Experts and officials indicate that drones can be remotely operated from within the UAE after taking off from the base. Recently, they were spotted patrolling El Fasher, a besieged city in Sudan facing rampant starvation and growing fears of atrocities amid the conflict.
U.S. officials have begun pressuring all parties to halt the violence. Vice President Kamala Harris confronted UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed about his country’s support for the RSF during a December meeting. President Biden recently called for an end to the “senseless war,” emphasizing that the RSF’s brutal siege of El Fasher has escalated into a full-scale assault.
This issue is expected to be discussed when Biden and Harris host the UAE leader at the White House on Monday. “This has to stop,” said White House spokesman John F. Kirby, referring to the blockade.
Both sides in Sudan’s civil war face accusations of war crimes, including brutal attacks filmed by the fighters. The conflict began in 2023 due to power struggles between the Sudanese military and the RSF, which the military helped establish. The Sudanese military has bombed civilians, while human rights groups accuse the RSF of ethnic cleansing and indiscriminate bombing that has devastated hospitals and aid warehouses.
Doctors Without Borders accused the Sudanese military of bombing a children’s hospital in El Fasher and the RSF of looting food meant for a camp of 400,000 starving people. In Khartoum, the RSF shelled Alia Specialized Hospital last April.
Aid workers are airdropping food to a city that Toby Harward has described as “hell on earth.” The UAE insists it is seeking to stop the war and help victims, providing $230 million in aid and sending 10,000 tons of supplies.
Sudan’s civil war has turned the strategically located Red Sea country into a global battleground. Iran has supplied armed drones to the Sudanese military, while Egypt has backed the army. Russia is playing both sides, with Wagner mercenaries supplying missiles to the Rapid Support Forces, and the Kremlin has begun to lean toward supporting the Sudanese military in exchange for access to ports.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have sent arms shipments to the Sudanese military at Iran’s request, while Qatar and the Houthis have denied sending military aid. The UAE has sent a variety of weapons, according to officials.
The European ambassador to Sudan wrote in a confidential memo that the UAE’s supply of drones and artillery has helped the Rapid Support Forces neutralize the Sudanese military’s air superiority. The memo included allegations that Saudi Arabia had provided funds to the Sudanese military to buy Iranian drones, and that 200,000 foreign mercenaries had fought alongside the RSF.
The UAE’s role appears to be part of a broader push into Africa, where it has announced $45 billion in investments. It turned the tide of war in Ethiopia in 2021 by supplying the prime minister with drones, and now appears to be trying to do the same in Sudan with the RSF.
Weapons from the UAE
The UAE has supplied a range of weapons, including drones, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, and MANPADS to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), helping to neutralize the Sudanese military’s air superiority, according to a confidential memo from European ambassador Aidan O’Hara obtained by The New York Times.
The memo also claimed that Saudi Arabia funded the Sudanese military to purchase Iranian drones, that up to 200,000 foreign mercenaries were fighting alongside the RSF, and that Russian Wagner mercenaries trained the RSF to use anti-aircraft missiles provided by the UAE.
The UAE’s involvement seems part of a larger strategy in Africa, having announced $45 billion in investments last year—about double China’s investments.
The UAE previously influenced Ethiopia’s civil war in 2021 by supplying armed drones, and it appears to be attempting to replicate this success in Sudan with the RSF.
Weapons Pipeline
When planes started arriving at Amdjers airport last year, located 600 miles east of Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, the UAE announced plans to establish a field hospital for Sudanese refugees.
However, months later, U.S. officials found that the $20 million facility was secretly providing care to RSF fighters, with the planes also transporting weapons that were subsequently smuggled into Sudan.
An analysis by The New York Times of satellite images and flight logs indicates that the Emiratis developed a drone system while simultaneously advertising their humanitarian efforts.
In a lengthy phone call in early May, President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, informed his Emirati counterpart that declassified U.S. intelligence indicated military support from the UAE for the RSF, as reported by two U.S. officials familiar with the discussion.
Nonetheless, this openness from the U.S. appears to have had little impact, as U.S. officials and witnesses in Chad indicate that the UAE has reportedly increased its support for the RSF in recent months.
While fewer flights carrying supplies are landing at Amgers—where they can be more easily monitored—a larger share of supplies is now arriving by truck, often using routes that avoid major cities and towns, the officials noted.
The New York Times has monitored the arrival of cargo planes from the Emirates at Amdjers airport in Chad over the past year. Evidence of Emirati-supplied weapons has also been discovered on various battlefields.
Human Rights Watch recently reported finding Serbian-made missiles, fired from an unidentified drone, which were originally sold to the Emirates.
Souxé Massara, Chad’s former prime minister, stated, “It’s very clear — the UAE sends money, and it also sends weapons.” Following concerns raised by Western officials, Massara informed Chad’s president, Mahamat Idriss Déby, that permitting the Emirates to channel weapons through Chad was a significant error.
Despite this, the situation remains unchanged. The Emirates offered Déby a loan of $1.5 billion, nearly equivalent to Chad’s national budget of $1.8 billion from the previous year.
UAE Support for RSF
The UAE provides support to the RSF in various forms. Earlier this year, a private Emirati jet transported RSF commander Major General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” on a tour across six African nations, where he was treated like a head of state.
Dubai, one of the seven emirates, serves as the hub for the RSF’s business ventures, particularly in the gold trade. The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned what it calls an RSF “front” company and is currently investigating seven Emirati firms for suspected connections to the militant group.
Hemedti’s 34-year-old brother, Agony Hamdan, has resided in Dubai since 2014 and is included in the U.S. sanctions. Despite this, he has taken on a role as a mediator in ongoing peace talks. During recent discussions in Switzerland, Agony expressed that the U.S. sanctions do not concern him.
“If it brings peace to Sudan, they can sanction as many companies as they want,” he stated.
While acknowledging that some RSF members have committed abuses, Hamdan maintained that the UAE does not support the RSF, asserting, “There is no evidence of anything. It’s just false propaganda.”
A Beloved Symbol of Relief
The UAE’s activities in Chad have raised significant concerns within the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), one of the oldest and most esteemed humanitarian organizations worldwide.
According to Red Cross spokesman Tommaso Della Longa, the federation only discovered through news reports that the Emirates Red Crescent had established a hospital in Amjers. He noted that the Emirates Red Crescent, funded by the UAE government, had failed to notify the IFRC, which is standard protocol.
The Emirati government has been eager to highlight its charitable efforts. Propaganda has depicted workers delivering aid and caring for patients under the Red Crescent emblem—a symbol originating in the 1870s that is legally protected under the Geneva Conventions. Misusing this emblem could be considered a war crime.
Della Longa stated that the IFRC dispatched fact-finding missions to Chad in 2023 and 2024 to gain a clearer understanding of the UAE’s activities under the Red Crescent name in Amjers. However, they encountered limited results.
Upon arrival, officials were barred from entering the UAE field hospital for “unspecified security reasons,” according to Della Longa. Consequently, the officials left Chad without ever having the opportunity to visit the hospital.
Konyndyk, the head of Refugees International, remarked that it was “unheard of” for an aid organization to obstruct its officials from accessing a hospital meant for treating refugees.
“The UAE seems to be using the Red Crescent as a façade for its documented arms shipments to a militia engaged in atrocities in Darfur.”
In June, the UAE claimed to have treated nearly 30,000 patients and expressed intentions to expand the hospital. However, residents in Amjers report that the hospital operates for only four hours each day.
In April, the UAE established a second field hospital in Chad, located in Abéché. When The New York Times visited the 80-bed facility in July, doctors offered a tour of its well-equipped wards, and the hospital’s director, Dr. Khalid Mohammed, stated it accommodates up to 250 patients daily.
He noted that the hospital is managed by a private Emirati company and has no affiliation with the Red Cross or Red Crescent. However, it closes at 4 p.m. each day, which restricts the medical services it can offer.
The Red Cross is still trying to figure out what the Emiratis are up to.
“The operation is not over,” Della Longa, a Red Cross spokesman, said of the Amgers investigation. “We want to get to the bottom of it.”
As Sudan continues to sink into what many experts call the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, U.S. officials say they are more focused than ever on the conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken convened peace talks last month in Switzerland despite dim prospects for a halt to the fighting.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan directly intervened with Saudi officials when they appeared to be blocking the talks, according to three people familiar with the interactions.
Tensions Rise Within the Biden Administration Over UAE Relations
The Biden administration is divided on a critical issue: how aggressively to confront the UAE.
When U.S. envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello suggested in a podcast interview on September 4 that he supported a boycott of the UAE by rapper Macklemore—who recently canceled a concert in Dubai due to the UAE’s involvement in Sudan—it elicited a strong backlash from Emirati officials, according to several sources.
“I didn’t expect Macklemore to be a champion for Sudan,” Perriello quipped.
Some senior officials within the White House and State Department believed Perriello had overstepped, while others were irritated by the notion of yielding to the UAE to preserve good relations.
This disagreement highlights the limitations of challenging the UAE, which is an important ally for the U.S. in numerous global matters. The UAE is a steadfast partner against Iran, a signatory to the Abraham Accords that established diplomatic ties with Israel, a potential key player in postwar Gaza, and has facilitated a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
The UAE has often dismissed international criticism, especially regarding its involvement in Yemen, but it now seems increasingly aware of the backlash surrounding its actions in Sudan.
In February, European diplomats pondered whether the UAE would feel any remorse for the “carnage and destruction” resulting from its actions in Sudan. A confidential EU memo suggested that Emirati officials were more worried about potential damage to their reputation than moral culpability.
However, whether the UAE would withdraw from Sudan amid many competing powers, particularly Iran, remains uncertain.
The possibility of Iran establishing a presence along the western shores of the Red Sea has raised alarms for the UAE and other Arab states engaged in Sudan, according to officials.
This anxiety is fueling a proxy war and prompting rival powers to increase their arms shipments to Sudan, driving the beleaguered country closer to total collapse.
While the UAE claims that Sudanese refugees appreciate the assistance it provides, discontent is growing among others.
Last week, during a visit to a hospital in Chad aimed at showcasing her country’s humanitarian efforts, UAE Minister Lana Nusseibeh faced an irate Sudanese refugee.
“You know very well that you started this war!” he shouted at a public gathering, a confrontation that quickly went viral on social media. “We don’t want anything from you, except for you to stop.”
Speaking anonymously over the phone, a man identified only as Suleiman expressed his deep-seated anger during a conversation about his experiences. He revealed that the brutality inflicted by the Rapid Support Forces compelled him to flee Sudan a year ago, joining the ranks of the 800,000 refugees currently in Chad.
When confronted with the Emirati minister, Suleiman felt he was looking at “the reason my home was destroyed.”
“I lost everything,” he lamented. “I had to stand up and voice what was in my heart.”
