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Sudan

Abu Dhabi ups the stakes with weapons case against Sudan army insiders 

PREVIEW

Charges against 13 people, including General Yassir al-Atta in absentia, push the UAE’s confrontation with Gen Al Burhan’s camp into a more dangerous phase

The United Arab Emirates has opened up a new front in its diplomatic war with the Sudan Armed Forces after charging 13 individuals and six companies with weapons trafficking, money laundering and a raft of other charges.

Those indicted include the SAF’s chief of staff General Yasir al Atta, who has been charged in absentia. The cases have been referred to the UAE’s State Security Court and centre on an alleged attempt to move ammunition through UAE territory to the Sudanese army. Last year, UAE authorities announced that they had intercepted millions of rounds of ammunition at an airport in 2025 that were bound for Sudan. The SAF dismissed the claims as fake news.

Prosecutors have linked the thwarted weapons delivery to a committee chaired by Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan. The charges include illicit trafficking in military materiel, forgery and use of official documents,  and laundering proceeds derived from these crimes.

Abu Dhabi has been the main ally to the rival Rapid Support Forces since the start of the civil war in April 2023, providing finance and weapons (AC Vol 66 No 9, Emiratis accused of shipping arms from the South). Burhan’s SAF, which supports the official government in Khartoum, has accused the UAE of being complicit with acts of genocide committed by the SAF – a charge also made by a United Nations expert panel in March (Dispatches, 10/3/25, Burhan takes Abu Dhabi to International Court of Justice on genocide charges).

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