UAE urges end to Sudan conflict amid escalating disinformation from Port Sudan Authority
Since the onset of the civil war, the UAE has consistently supported regional and international efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for violations committed by all warring parties.
The UAE remains committed to a civilian-led process that places the needs of the Sudanese people above the interests of any faction.
In this spirit, the UAE notes a marked increase in unfounded accusations and deliberate propaganda from the so-called Port Sudan Authority, one of the warring parties to the civil war, which actively undermines efforts to end the conflict and restore stability. These escalating fabrications form part of a calculated pattern of deflection - shifting blame to others to evade responsibility for its own actions - intended to prolong the war and obstruct a genuine peace process.
The UAE reaffirms its unwavering commitment to working closely with partners to foster dialogue, mobilize international support, and contribute to initiatives that address the humanitarian crisis and lay the groundwork for sustainable peace. These efforts will assist in building a secure and stable future for Sudan that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Sudanese people for peace and development.
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Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
How Sudan and Libya's triangle border region became a hotbed of crime and war
On 12 June, Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary announced that it had taken control of the Sudanese portion of the triangle border region that straddles Sudan, Libya and Egypt. This mysterious, desert region has for a long time been hidden away from the eyes of the world, a lawless place where violence and smuggling - of gold, weapons, drugs and people - thrive. Open war now besets the triangle. This hot, dry land is a battlefield where governments, militias, and armed groups struggle, with the backing of foreign powers, for control. The statement released by the RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, prompting 12 million people to flee their homes, gave a clue as to the value of this remote place. 'The importance of this victory stems from the strategic location of Almuthallath 'Triangle' area, which serves as a crucial economic and border crossing point between the three countries,' the RSF said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'It functions as a vital hub for trade and transportation between North and East Africa. It is also rich in natural resources, including oil, gas, and minerals.' Prior to the RSF capture of the Sudanese component of the triangle, the journey from Sudan to Libya through it cost about 250,000 Sudanese pounds (around $100) and took close to a day. Before the RSF seized the area in June, bus drivers and smugglers openly advertised the trips. Now they do not. In Gaddafi's wake In March 2011, just months before Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was assassinated, Libya announced that it had gold reserves then worth more than $6bn. After the fall of the Libyan strongman and with instability across the region, including in Chad, the Central African Republic and Sudan's Darfur, which has witnessed fighting for most of the 21st century, a battle for control ensued. One artisanal gold miner, who spent a decade in the triangle region, described it as a place to make money, not to settle. The only loyalty found there, he said, was to money. 'Both the RSF and the SAF have sought to control the lucrative and essential illicit fuel trade from southern Libya' - Chatham House report From 2012, gold mining flourished in the area, with thousands of small-time miners from across the Sahel region going to the triangle to do business. At the same time, other illegal trades were thriving, including the smuggling of stolen goods like cars and drugs, as well as the trafficking of people to Europe from African countries through the Mediterranean. For Suliman Baldo, an expert on Sudan and the economic and political dynamics of the region, the economy of the triangle region must be seen as part of a Sahel economy that depends on the militarisation and extraction of gold and other metals. 'Two serious factors have intersected with the above to create the current chaos in the triangle area, one is the fall of Gaddafi and the second is the Sudanese war that badly affected Darfur, Chad and other regional countries,' Baldo, who is the executive director of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, told Middle East Eye. A Chatham House report titled 'Gold and the war in Sudan' found smuggling via Libya, conversely, has reflected the relatively stable - if criminal - political, economic and security conditions established by eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF). This stands in contrast to the situation in Sudan. 'Both the RSF and the SAF have sought to control the lucrative and essential illicit fuel trade from southern Libya, which has scaled up dramatically since 2022 as a result of elite capture of Libya's oil sector,' the report said. 'Demand and the cost of fuel increased during the war in Sudan as a result of scarcity. The LAAF and its local Subul al-Salam allies likely supplied the RSF with fuel before the war and shortly after it began, as part of regular trading and security assistance, and at the same time, small amounts of gold from al-Muthaleth were smuggled via Libya,' it said. Subul al-Salam, a Libyan militia allied to Haftar, was part of the RSF's recent success in the triangle. Opportunity for the RSF The Sudanese army, RSF, Libyan and Chadian armed groups have exchanged control of the triangle region ever since Gaddafi's fall. Military sources said the SAF's presence in the region was weak and that it depended on the RSF, which was formed from the government-backed Janjaweed militias that terrorised Darfur and brought into the Sudanese state under Omar al-Bashir in 2013, from 2016 onwards in the wild northwestern desert. Having previously been part of the same military, the SAF and RSF went to war and shifted their alliances in the region, with the army joining with rebels from Darfur and the RSF working separately with Haftar. 'The RSF profited the most from the triangle as they extracted gold from the region and got involved in other trades there' - Sudanese researcher 'Darfur rebel movements, namely the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation movement (SLM), have had a presence in southern Libya since the regime of Gaddafi and after the eruption of the war in Sudan, the RSF got a foothold in southern Libya and created a wide network of interests with Libyan armed groups, including human trafficking, the smuggling of weapons, fuel and other criminal activities,' Islam Alhaj, a Libyan political analyst, told MEE. The RSF flourished in the desert, rewarded by Bashir's government and the European Union (EU), which was interested in stopping the flow of refugees and migrants from Africa through the region to the Mediterranean. Military sources and miners living in the triangle told MEE that the RSF opened three military bases at Chevrolet, Albarly and Alshasy in the same area. Here, they claimed to be stopping human trafficking and the flow of people north to Europe. 'The RSF profited the most from the triangle as they extracted gold from the region and got involved in other trades there,' one Sudanese researcher said. War in Sudan At the beginning of Sudan's war in April 2023, the army took control of Chevrolet and the other RSF bases in the triangle region as the paramilitary withdrew fighters to focus on capturing the capital Khartoum. 'During this period, Darfur groups engaged in widespread gold mining and trade in weapons, fuel and other logistics, which led to confrontations between these forces and the Libyan militias in southern Libya,' a military source and a miner in the region said. Though it had withdrawn from the triangle, the RSF maintained a presence there through its alliance with Libyan militias connected to Haftar, who were able to facilitate the flow of weapons from the UAE, the miners told MEE. UAE and Haftar behind RSF capture of Sudan's triangle border region Read More » Ismail Hassan, a miner in the region, said that after the Darfur rebel groups joined the SAF in November 2023, the cooperation they had previously had with the RSF ended. There were many confrontations between the SAF-allied Joint Forces and the RSF as the former sought to cut supplies coming in from Libya and the two sides fought for control. The Joint Forces were able to cut some of the RSF's supplies coming into Darfur, while the paramilitary began its siege of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, over 15 months ago. The city is the last army-controlled area in the vast western region of Sudan. 'The tension has been transferred to the triangle area and clashes have erupted between the Joint Forces and the Libyan militias that allied with Haftar and provided the support to the RSF, including the opening of the camps inside the Libyan territories,' Hassan said. In one ambush operation, Joint Forces arrested Colombian mercenaries who came to fight with the RSF, with the support of the UAE, in Darfur. What next? Sources on both sides of the Sudanese war see this as a crucial moment, with fighting raging across the strategically vital Kordofan region and the army plotting an invasion of Darfur, which is almost entirely held by the RSF. A Libyan source said that the battle for the triangle region would also intensify, as external actors, including the UAE, seek to secure control of the area for their preferred force. Egypt hosts secret talks between Sudan's Burhan and Libya's Haftar in bid to mend ties, sources say Read More » 'The battle to control the desert is expected to increase in the coming times as the two sides are massing troops and preparing for a massive round of war,' the source, who cannot be named for security reasons, said. 'These are porous borders, and for decades, there has been instability across this region related to the movement of irregular forces. I do not see this changing as long as both Sudan and Libya remain divided and contested spaces,' Cameron Hudson, a former US diplomat and expert on the region, said. 'I think it's impossible to separate the financial and the political reasons for the conflict. They both drive each other.' Alhaj, the Libyan analyst, pointed to the impact the triangle has on the whole region. 'The triangle region would threaten the security in Libya and Sudan and the Sahel region at large,' he said.
Gulf Today
3 days ago
- Gulf Today
Sudan paramilitaries attack Darfur camp, killing over 40
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a famine-hit refugee camp in Darfur on Monday, killing at least 40 civilians, first responders said, as fighting in the western region rages on. The RSF stormed Abu Shouk camp, opening fire inside homes and on the streets, said the local Emergency Response Room — one of hundreds of volunteer networks providing frontline aid since war erupted between the army and the RSF in April 2023. It said more than 40 civilians were killed and at least 19 others wounded in the attack. The rescue group said civilians were 'killed either by stray bullets or direct executions' at the camp, located on the northern outskirts of El-Fasher — the last major city in Darfur still held by the Sudanese army. The RSF has laid a siege on El-Fasher since May 2024. The local resistence committee, a pro-democracy volunteer group, confirmed the toll of at least 40 killed in Monday's attack. The group condemned what it called 'horrific violations being committed against innocent, unarmed people'. In recent months, North Darfur state capital El-Fasher and nearby displacement camps have come under renewed RSF attacks, after the group was pushed out of Sudan's capital Khartoum by the army earlier this year. A major RSF offensive in April on the Zamzam camp displaced tens of thousands of people, with many seeking shelter in El-Fasher. The war between Sudan's army and the RSF, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and created what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. The conflict has effectively split the country in two with the army holding the north, east and centre while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south. Last year, famine was declared in three camps around El-Fasher, including Abu Shouk, and the UN warned it could spread to the city by May. But data shortages have prevented an official declaration. This week alone, malnutrition has killed at least 63 people in El-Fasher, mostly women and children, a senior health official told AFP. Many families are unable to reach hospitals due to insecurity and lack of transport, choosing instead to bury loved ones quietly. At a community kitchen in El-Fasher, organisers have said some of the children and women they serve arrive there with swollen bellies, sunken eyes and signs of acute malnutrition. Agence France-Presse
Middle East Eye
4 days ago
- Middle East Eye
UAE and Haftar behind RSF capture of Sudan's triangle border region
On 10 June, Ismail Hassan, an artisanal gold miner and trader in the triangle border region that straddles Sudan, Egypt and Libya, watched as more than 250 fully equipped military vehicles entered his local market, al-Katma. The vehicles carried fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese paramilitary group that has been at war with Sudan's army since April 2023, alongside a host of Libyan mercenary groups connected to the eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar. 'The RSF and Libyan forces entered the area and advanced into the market, declaring control of the region,' Hassan told Middle East Eye, referring to the Sudanese part of the triangle. The Libyans then moved out, Hassan said, leaving the RSF to loot the area's markets, making off with gold, money, cars, mobile phones and much more. Hassan was one of many miners who fled the area following the attack, before speaking exclusively about it to MEE over the phone. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allied Joint Forces militia were forced to leave in the wake of the RSF-led attack. Two days later, on 12 June, the RSF announced that it successfully taken 'control of the strategic Almuthallath 'triangle' area, which constitutes a pivotal junction between Sudan, Libya and Egypt". As the army has taken Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and made inroads in other parts of central Sudan, the takeover of the Sudanese part of the border triangle region has cemented the RSF's hold on western Sudan, where it holds almost all of Darfur. Egypt hosts secret talks between Sudan's Burhan and Libya's Haftar in bid to mend ties, sources say Read More » According to satellite imagery, flight tracking data seen by MEE, and interviews with gold miners and other eyewitnesses, this success in the wild, lawless border regions would not have been possible without Haftar's Libyan forces and the patronage of the United Arab Emirates and Russia. The involvement of the UAE has brought Abu Dhabi into further conflict with Egypt, which has tried – and so far failed – to mediate better relations between Haftar and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces. At the beginning of July, MEE revealed a secret meeting hosted by Egypt between the Sudanese general and the Libyan commander, both of whom are its allies. The meeting did not go well. RSF attack Key to the RSF's capture of the Sudanese part of the triangle region was Subul al-Salam, a Libyan militia affiliated with Haftar's forces. A cousin of Hassan, who works with him as a gold miner and trader, told MEE that forces from Subul al-Salam 'helped the RSF until it reached the market and controlled the entire area'. Sudan war intensifies in Kordofan as RSF razes villages Read More » He said that the group, alongside RSF fighters, carried out ethnically motivated killings. Another miner, Abu Zar, said there were Libyan fighters inside the main market at al-Katma. He told MEE that an armed group called the Tariq Ben Zeyad brigade, which is believed to be controlled by Saddam Haftar, Khalifa's son, was also part of the attack on the triangle border region. 'We heard that Saddam Haftar, the strong son of the Libyan commander, was closely monitoring the military operation before he ordered the forces to withdraw back to Libyan territory,' another miner, who asked for anonymity, said. The RSF then advanced into Sudan's northern state, seizing Karb al-Toum, an oasis near the Jebel Arkenu mountain range, as well as a host of other small villages. The Joint Forces – Darfur rebels fighting alongside the Sudanese army – were forced to withdraw from areas in the northern desert, while some of them had to retreat through Egypt alongside army soldiers. It was reported that RSF fighters also crossed the border into Egypt but that they were ordered by senior commanders to withdraw. The UAE's project Libyan sources, Sudanese officials and a former US diplomat all told MEE that Haftar's forces and the RSF had been given the green light and logistical support from the UAE to take control of the triangle border region. Though it denies it, the UAE has been the RSF's main patron throughout the war in Sudan. An unpublished study leaked to MEE by a Libyan researcher reported that two Emirati planes landed at southeastern Libya's al-Kufra airport on 10 July, unloading weapons and supplies that were then transported to the RSF in Darfur through the Chadian-Libyan border. 'This has been the UAE's plan, not just in Libya, but in Chad, CAR and South Sudan. Control of borders gives them free access to weapons, to recruit fighters and to smuggle out gold' - Cameron Hudson, former US diplomat The dossier revealed that the UAE ordered Haftar to move his Libyan National Army (LNA) forces from Camp 87 in Benghazi to support the RSF 'with hundreds of vehicles in its attack on the SAF and Darfur rebels in the desert'. This movement of Haftar's forces comes partly in response to resistance in Chad to the continued supply of the RSF through the country's desert regions. A Libyan source close to the issue, who did not want to be named, said the 'recent interference by Hafter through its allied militia Subul al-Salam' had changed the balance of power in the triangle region, which has a Sudanese, Libyan and Egyptian component. Egypt, the source said, was 'looking suspiciously at the UAE and Haftar', with the region vital to Cairo's national security. 'Subul al-Salam matters, but this is an Emirati project,' Jalel Harchaoui, an analyst focusing on Libya, told MEE. 'The big event is the fact that the RSF now controls the Sudanese part of the triangle… Subul al-Salam was instrumental because the Libyan part of the triangle was very permissive until mid-May. The SAF, the Joint Forces and civilians from Egypt were all able to access it.' 'What was necessary, as preliminary step, was for Subul al-Salam to shut all of that down – and this is how the RSF was able to use that platform to carry out that incursion and take over the Sudanese part of the triangle,' Harchaoui said. Former US diplomat and CIA expert Cameron Hudson believes the UAE is still working to ensure the victory of the RSF in Sudan's war. Sudan's shadow war: Drone strikes reveal escalating tensions between UAE and Turkey Read More » 'The RSF's control of its border areas will worsen and extend Sudan's war, making it even more difficult to resolve. This has been the UAE's plan, not just in Libya, but in Chad, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. Control of borders gives them free access to weapons, to recruit fighters and to smuggle out gold,' Hudson, who is also a senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Africa programme, told MEE. 'It is no coincidence that the UAE maintains bases in all these countries near the border with Sudan to help facilitate that military and economic trade,' he said. Libyan researcher and political analyst Islam Alhaj said that the UAE was exploiting the security vacuum in southern Libya to send the weapons to the RSF and support other illegal activities, including gold smuggling, in the region. Russia continues to back both sides Satellite imagery reported by Nova Italian news agency disclosed that two Russian cargo planes were recently tracked flying from al-Kufra airport to RSF areas in Sudan. According to previous reporting by MEE and the imagery provided by the Copernicus programme, the Russian IL-76 plane is typically used for transporting military personnel and equipment, as well as for medium-range logistical operations. Sudan war: Russia hedges bets by aiding both sides in conflict Read More » The shipment was part of a flow of arms shipments from southeastern Libya to the RSF that has been in operation since May, a month before the paramilitary's capture of the Sudanese part of the border triangle. Harchaoui told MEE that the 'brand new phenomenon' was the act of flying supplies from UAE bases outside Libya directly in al-Kufra, rather than transporting them overland or by air from within other parts of Libya. The airport at al-Kufra plays a key operational role, serving as a logistical base to facilitate the flow of supplies to RSF forces through remote and lightly monitored corridors. Russia, as MEE has reported before, is playing both sides in Sudan's war, with the government in Moscow building ties with the Burhan-led Sudanese government in Port Sudan, while it appears to continue helping the RSF through the UAE and its own mercenary groups. Regional power plays With Turkey recently stepping up its help for the Sudanese army and other regional powers, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, aligned with Burhan, external actors continue to struggle for control and profit in Sudan, which still contains vast untapped natural resources and an expansive and strategically positioned coastline. The RSF has declared a parallel government in Nyala, South Darfur. This self-declared entity would border five countries, including South Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, and now – following the capture of Sudan's triangle border area - Libya and Egypt. 'The new government will face many challenges to carry any civilian duties including the good governance, protecting the civilians and oversight the finance and this will lead to big failure which will threat the other neighbouring countries,' Suliman Baldo, the executive director of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, told MEE. 'I don't think it will be able to stop the smuggling of gold and crops from Sudan and maintain the other supplies coming from neighbouring countries towards Sudan as its big investments for the RSF commanders,' he said. Additional reporting by Oscar Rickett.
