Investigation: UAE provides Haftar militias with arms across Sudan
With substantial financial funding from Abu Dhabi, UAE provides Haftar forces with weapons and ammunition through the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, a newspaper investigation revealed.
According to the investigation published by the electronic newspaper, The Libya Observer, Al-Burhan sent three military cargo planes loaded with weapons, ammunition and military equipment to eastern Libya last June, as part of a deal funded by the UAE.
The newspaper quoted a Sudanese source as saying that “Al-Burhan and Hemedti are both vying to get more money from UAE-sponsored Haftar; the former sends weapons and the latter sends mercenaries,” the source said asking to remain anonymous.
Both leaders are exploiting their tribal influence to gain the upper hand after the UAE promised to pump in hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Haftar.
In June, 122 mercenaries were intercepted while heading for Libya. The source confirmed that the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces detained them because they are linked to former Janjaweed militia leader Musa Hilal who has been detained by Hemedti since November 2017.
Hilal is from Mahamid clan of Rizeigat tribe while Hemedti is from Mahariya clan of the same tribe. Darfur tribes see Libya as a source of income and the tribal military leaders fight one another to benefit from this trade.
Two days ago, the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya and western investigations exposed the severity of the UAE’s crimes in Libya, in the service of its conspiracies to spread chaos and sabotage and serve its expansionist goals.
The GNA forces announced monitoring Emirati and Russian warplanes traveling near Sirte and Misrata, and revealed new evidence of the UAE’s support of the retired Major General Khalifa Haftar.
Brigadier General Abd Al-Hadi Derah, the spokesman for the Sirte Jafra operations room, said that his forces had detected Emirati drones over the area in addition to Russian MiG-29s that were roaming the skies of southern Abu Qurain (200 km east of the capital, Tripoli).
He indicated that his forces are now monitoring all movements of Haftar militias in the area.
Before that, GNA forces revealed that, during the period of the attack on Tripoli, its navy was able to seize an Emirati ship supplying fuel to retired Haftar forces aircraft.
The GNA has condemned more than once the military support provided by the UAE to Haftar militias.
Earlier, air traffic sites monitored for the first time the launch of Syrian and Russian cargo planes to Al-Khadim base operated by the Emirates in Libya.
The RadarBox, a website specialized in air traffic monitoring, monitored launching the Ilyushin 76 cargo plane, belonging to the Syrian regime, towards Egypt. The plane’s movement shows that it departed on Monday evening from Damascus towards Latakia and then to Egypt, and was absent from the radar after its arrival in west Alexandria.
But the flight monitor site FlightAir broadcasted pictures showing the path of the plane after it entered Egypt, where it headed to Al-Khadim base in Libya, which is run by the Emirates. This plane appeared again last Tuesday, west of Alexandria, as it was leaving Egypt to return to Syria.
The site also detected a Russian cargo plane of the same type, as it departed from Moscow to Hmeimim Airport in Latakia, Syria, and from there towards Egypt, then to the border with Libya, then it was absent from the radar.
On the other hand, the Bosphorus Observatory indicated that this Russian plane was heading towards the Libyan Al-Khadim base.
A UN report spoke last April about an air movement to transport mercenaries from Russia and Syria to take part in the fighting alongside Haftar’s forces.
