UAE may help RSF transport fighters back to Sudan from Yemen – source

KHARTOUM, APRIL 19, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) may consider transporting Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters who are in Yemen back to Sudan where they would join the fighting against the army, a RSF source says.

The RSF – led by deputy head of Transitional Sovereign Council Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) particularly in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country since Saturday.

The fighting began after the RSF deployed to most areas in the capital and important towns including Merowe in the Northern State, triggering an army warning of deadly conflict over the uncoordinated deployment.

A military officer with a direct link to the leadership of the RSF in Khartoum said Gen. Daglo who is better known in Sudan as Hemedti had appealed for help from the UAE, and that the Gulf country has agreed to provide logistic and financial assistance to transport the RSF fighters to Sudan.

“The UAE is willing to support us in this war of liberation against the elements of the Bashir regime, and therefore we asked, and they have agreed to the transport of these forces,” the officer told Sudans Post on condition of anonymity. “The discussion is around what airport should be used for this purpose.”

There are fears of human rights violations from the RSF as the paramilitary group has previously been accused of human rights abuses and war crimes in Sudan by various human rights organizations, including the United Nations.

The RSF has always denied these accusations.

Yesterday, the Sudanese Armed Forces released a video showing crates of the 120mm thermobaric airdrop shells with markings suggesting they were manufactured in Serbia in 2020 and later on supplied to the UAE.

The release of the video posed a potential embarrassment to the UAE as it seeks to mediate alongside Egypt a ceasefire between the rival Sudanese forces.

Egypt has advisors in Sudan supporting the military, while Abu Dhabi has avoided publicising its previously reported support for the RSF.

“The assertion by Washington that UAE is a partner in pursuing peace in Sudan as part of the Quad must increasingly be looked at with skepticism,” said Cameron Hudson, a former CIA officer and Sudan expert.

The Quad is the UK, US, Saudi and UAE, a group that tried to restore civilian rule after the Sudanese military and the RSF carried out a coup in 2021.