The New York Times, citing unnamed sources among American officials and reviewing satellite images, claims that the UAE is secretly backing Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under the cover of a humanitarian base, setting up a drone deployment point and weapons transfer.
“They (UAE) are using one of the world’s most recognized symbols of aid, the Red Crescent, as a cover for their secret operation to launch drones in Sudan and smuggle weapons to militants,” the publication writes.
According to sources among American officials, the UAE is using an airport near the Sudanese border, located close to a Red Crescent hospital, to launch modern military drones that provide RSF with battlefield intelligence and escort weapon shipments to Sudan.
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Jeremy Konyndyk, a former official in the administrations of ex-President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden, says that aid organizations are particularly outraged by the UAE’s actions, accusing them of conducting a “Potemkin-style humanitarian operation” to disguise their support for RSF.
Five unnamed American officials said that the US has been privately trying to persuade the UAE to halt its secret operations in Sudan.
Since April 15 last year, intense fighting has been underway in Sudan between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and the regular army.
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The sides are exchanging contradictory statements about their successes in combat and control over objects, unleashing a large-scale information war in the media and social networks.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated that the ongoing fighting in the country may lead to outbreaks of disease and a fatal collapse of the healthcare system. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the number of internally displaced persons in Sudan has exceeded 10 million people.
