Hidden Emirati Arms Recovered in Sudan’s Wad Madani Region
Videos and photos have surfaced online showing a stockpile of Emirati ammunition and missiles in Wad Madani, Sudan, after Sudanese armed forces took control of the strategic city from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The videos show Sudanese army members inspecting the warehouse, which is filled with large boxes. A Sudanese soldier states that all the weapons are sourced from the United Arab Emirates.
On Saturday, the Sudanese armed forces announced that, in cooperation with allied armed groups, they had seized the city of Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan’s Al Jazira State.
The city had been under the control of the RSF for a year, with the paramilitary force currently fighting the Sudanese army in an ongoing civil war since April 2023.
RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti, acknowledged the loss of Wad Madani but confirmed that the war was not over.
In an audio statement, he said, “We lost Wad Madani, but we will regain it. People just need to regroup, reorganize, and reassess.”
The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF has led to the displacement of over 11 million people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with more than 8 million people facing the threat of famine, according to the United Nations.
On Tuesday, the U.S. government declared that genocide was occurring in Sudan and took action to impose sanctions on Hemeti and his relatives.
The RSF has been accused of committing widespread atrocities and human rights violations across the state.
Both sides of the conflict have benefited from the war by smuggling and selling vital goods, including food, fuel, and medicines.
Foreign countries have also been involved in the war, including the United Arab Emirates, which has supported the RSF.
Diplomatic sources have indicated that UAE military support helped keep the RSF “in the fight” and enabled its continuation with no end in sight.
In December, Reuters reported that dozens of flights from the UAE landed at an airstrip in Chad, which was used to transport weapons across the border into Sudan.
In January 2024, a UN Expert Panel, citing “reliable” claims, stated that the UAE had been supplying military aid to the conflict via an airstrip in Chad.
A Western official noted that many U.S. officials considered the UAE as a “facilitator” of the war, but the administration was “always too distracted” to seriously pressure Abu Dhabi over this support.
