UAE sent Chinese weapons to Sudan despite embargo
The UAE is sending advanced Chinese-made weaponry to Sudan in defiance of an arms embargo, according to a new report.
Amnesty International said its investigation found that weaponry made in China had been captured in Khartoum.
The organisation said they had identified Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers, the use of which in Sudan Middle East Eye has previously reported on.
Amnesty said the guided bombs were manufactured by the Norinco Group - also known as China North Industries Group Corporation Limited - a Chinese state-owned defence corporation, adding it was the first time their use was documented in an active conflict.
Amnesty said China should, as a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), block sales to the UAE to prevent the re-export of their weaponry to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary organisation accused of widespread ethnic cleansing, rights abuses and sexual violence in Sudan.
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“This is clear evidence that sophisticated Chinese-made guided bombs and howitzers have been used in Sudan opens in a new tab,” said Brian Castner, head of crisis research at Amnesty International.
'This is clear evidence that sophisticated Chinese-made guided bombs and howitzers have been used in Sudan opens in a new tab'
- Brian Castner, Amnesty International
He said the presence of recently manufactured Chinese bombs in North Darfur was a "clear violation" of the arms embargo by the UAE.
"Civilians are being killed and injured because of global inaction, while the UAE continues to flout the embargo," he said, referring to the UN embargo on arms going into Darfur, the western region of Sudan now almost entirely controlled by the RSF.
"The UAE must halt its arms transfers to the RSF immediately.
"Until they do, all international arms transfers to the UAE must also stop.”
'Genocide' dismissed
On Tuesday, Sudan’s security and defence council announced it was cutting off diplomatic ties with the UAE over its support for the RSF, a day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed a Sudanese case accusing Abu Dhabi of complicity in genocide.
The move came as Port Sudan, Sudan’s de facto capital and home of its army-backed government, was hammered by drone strikes that began early on Sunday morning.
The RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, has not yet claimed responsibility for the Port Sudan attacks, while the UAE has strongly condemned them.
Attacks began early on Sunday morning, when drones struck Sudan’s last functioning civilian international airport, destroying parts of its roof and leaving its interior partially damaged.
The aircraft, which a Sudanese army spokesperson identified as "kamikaze drones" and which regional military and diplomatic sources said are known to have been previously purchased by the UAE, also attacked the nearby Osman Digna air base.
Amnesty said it identified a Chinese-made Norinco GB50A guided aerial bomb as being among the weapons used.
The Sudanese government, which is aligned with the SAF, closed the airport on Sunday before opening it again on Monday. A fresh drone attack the next morning prompted its closure once again.
"The strikes on civilian infrastructure will add to the already unimaginable suffering of Sudan's people," Aida Elsayed Abdallah, secretary general of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, told MEE.
"Damage to key civilian infrastructure such as non-military airports and power stations disrupt our volunteers' efforts to help our stricken communities, and creates even more barriers to providing food, clean water and healthcare."
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 12.5 million Sudanese, while the RSF have been accused of ethnic cleansing, mass sexual assault and even genocide.
The SAF, the RSF's former allies turned enemies, has also been accused of widespread rights violations.
Abdullahi Halakhe, senior advocate for East and Southern Africa at Refugees International, told Middle East Eye last week that the UAE was helping facilitate a "genocide" in Sudan as part of its push to prevent the rise of democratic states in the region.
"It crushed the Arab Spring, it crushed the emergence of any viable government in Libya, and its latest iteration of that is Sudan," he said.
He added, however, that eventually the UAE would drop the RSF because of the "toxic" image the group had. "A collapsed Sudan is not in their interests either," he said.
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