The UAE is operating a secret base in the Puntland State of Somalia to funnel weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, according to a report by Middle East Eye (MEE).

Sources told the outlet on 31 October that Emirati planes carrying heavily guarded cargo frequently arrive at Bosaso Airport in Puntland.

These planes first started landing in Bosaso two years ago, the sources said.

“They’re frequent and the logistics are transferred immediately to another aircraft that is on standby and is destined for the paramilitary RSF in Sudan through the neighboring countries,” said a senior Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) speaking anonymously to MEE.

The PMPF is an Emirati-funded regional force that was set up to combat piracy. According to the report, none of the shipments bound for Sudan come through their camp, “as the shipments are large and beyond their requirements.”

MEE tracked the flights over a period of months and noticed a pattern.

Weeks ago, the outlet reported a significant increase in the supply of arms to the RSF, via Bosaso Airport. US intelligence has said these arms include Chinese-made drones.

The UAE has also set up a radar facility, ammunition depots, and a designated cargo area for transport aircraft at Bosaso Air Base, located near the airport.

According to satellite imagery, rapid construction was being carried out on the eastern edge of the Bosaso Air Base between January 2024 and January 2025. The images also show what is likely to be an Emirati-operated French-made GM-403 radar. There have been reports of an advanced Israeli radar system being present at the site as well.

“During loading and offloading, they are heavily guarded, as they carry sensitive materials and logistics that are not publicly disclosed,” the PMPF source at Bosaso Airport went on to say.

“For the past two years, the UAE has funneled over 500,000 containers marked as hazardous through Bosaso,” said another source, a senior manager at Bosaso Port.

The operations are “shrouded in secrecy,” the port manager added.

PMPF was initially run by an Emirati-based firm in violation of a UN arms embargo on Somalia. Thecompany, Sterling Corporate Services, says its operations aim to combat piracy.

A UN investigative group has accused Sterling’s training program for the PMPF of being dangerous and extreme, linking it to the beating and killing of Somali trainees.

According to MEE, the PMPF is responsible for cordoning off Bosaso Port and preventing any filming when shipments arrive. Security is extremely tight, and only on-duty personnel have access to the area during offloading.

The Emirati government and army have also established a vast network of military and intelligence sites on the islands around Yemen, in coordination with Israel.

These sites are said to be part of a joint Emirati-Israeli effort to counter the Ansarallah resistance movement and Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), which fought UAE-backed forces during the Saudi-led war on Yemen and targeted Israel consistently throughout the two-year genocide in Gaza.

This network of UAE sites across Yemeni islands and near the coast of Somalia, which has been described as an occupation, continues to expand. A new airstrip is being built on the island of Zuqar off the coast of Yemen, according to satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC published on 20 October by AP.

The new report on the Emirati-run base in Puntland comes less than a week after the fall of the city of El-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur, which was captured by the RSF after a brutal, 500-day siege.

RSF forces have filmed themselves committing massacres against civilians in El-Fasher, resembling the Syrian government’s slaughter of Alawites earlier this year.

According to Sudan Doctors Network, over 450 people were massacred by the RSF at the main hospital in El-Fasher.

El-Fasher is home to around 260,000 civilians who remain trapped. Many have lost contact with their family members in other parts of the country.

“The situation is simply horrifying. The situation is chaotic. In this context, it is difficult to estimate the number of civilians killed. Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in El-Fasher,” senior UN official Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee said on Thursday.

This includes UK arms supplied to the UAE and then sent by Abu Dhabi to the RSF, according to two dossiers of documents seen by the UN and cited by The Guardian this week.

“Months after the UN Security Council first received material alleging that the UAE may have supplied British-made items to the RSF, new data indicates that the British government went on to approve further exports to the Gulf state for military equipment of the same type,” The Guardian noted.