A United Nations expert report validated the UAE’s role in secretly providing weapons to armed militias in Sudan through neighboring Chad, putting pressure on Abu Dhabi before it attends a crucial conference in London to halt the war in Sudan.
The internal report—rated highly confidential—identified proof of “multiple” UAE flights, with cargo planes making a concerted effort to go unnoticed while flying to bases in Chad, where arms smuggling into Sudan is tracked. The report comes as the second anniversary of the Sudanese civil war approaches, which has created the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis and displaced over 12 million individuals.
UN Report underscores UAE’s involvement in arms deliveries to Sudan through Chad
The 14-page report—written in November and forwarded to the UN Security Council’s Sudan Sanctions Committee—was drafted by a five-member panel of UN experts. It described a persistent trend of Il-76TD cargo flights from the UAE to Chad, where three or more land routes were determined to be used for bringing weapons into neighboring Sudan.
The researchers discovered that UAE airport-to-Chad air cargo flights were so frequent they established a “new regional air bridge.” The flights had unusual behavior, frequently vanishing during “critical segments” of their route, a trend the experts said “raises questions about possible clandestine operations.”
But the experts said they were unable to confirm what the aircraft were carrying or to present any proof that the aircraft were ferrying weapons. The last UN expert report on Sudan, due out shortly, does not refer to the results of several cargo flights between the UAE and Chad. The UAE is only referred to in the 39-page expert report in connection with peace negotiations.
Concerns regarding the UAE’s claimed support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force, followed a weekend during which RSF combatants killed over 200 civilians during a spree of violence against vulnerable ethnic groups within displacement camps and around the city of El Fasher, the final major city remaining under the control of Sudan’s military in Darfur, the vast western region of Sudan. In January, the United States formally announced that the RSF had engaged in genocide in Sudan.
UN experts monitor illegal cargo flights from the UAE to Chad, connecting them to RSF in Sudan’s Darfur region
In their November report, UN investigators probing the suspected smuggling of weapons from Chad to Darfur in defiance of the arms embargo listed at least 24 Il-76TD cargo flights that arrived at Amgarras Airport in Chad during the previous year.
They cited that these sorties coincided with increased conflict in El Fasher, notably “heightened drone activity undertaken mainly by the RSF to support combat operations and gather information,” which experts said was a “technological milestone in engaging in hostilities.”
Some of the flights highlighted in the report were associated with airlines formerly connected to “military logistics and illegal arms trafficking.” Authorities explained that two of them were previously accused of violating the arms ban.
The experts also tested “normal departures” from UAE airports—Ras Al Khaimah and Al Ain in Abu Dhabi emirate—to Chad and concluded that the planes often went missing from radar during key stages. In one account, a plane departed Ras Al Khaimah, went missing in flight, and turned up later at N’Djamena (capital of Chad) before rejoining the return trip to Abu Dhabi.
Still, the main point is that the UN experts reported that they could not confirm the aircraft were laden with weaponry because “the flights lacked evidence related to the specific contents being transported.”
UN experts warn not to connect UAE flights with arms smuggling in light of Sudan genocide claims
Four of the five UN experts stated that while the flights “marked an important new trend,” their results “fell short of evidentiary standards on arms transfers.” For instance, while Nyala residents in South Darfur observed “cargo plane activity,” and informants claimed it was for RSF logistical operations, no other corroborated evidence was uncovered regarding the content of the cargo.
Thus, the specialists stated that it was “too early to say that these flights were part of a weapons smuggling network.” They also mentioned that the connections of some of the flights to logistics companies involved in previous arms breaches “do not give evidence of ongoing arms transfers.”
They explained that “in addition, the flight path patterns and irregularities, like radar loss of contact during flight and unrecorded take-offs, were a cause for concern but did not amount to conclusive evidence directly connecting these flights with arms shipments.”
These disclosures are just days after the International Court of Justice in The Hague listened to a case brought by Sudan against the UAE for “complicity in genocide” during the conflict. The court listened to allegations that the RSF was guilty of serious human rights abuses, including mass killings, rape, and forced displacement in western Darfur.