The footage, showing crates of 120mm airdrop shells, could embarrass the Gulf state as it tries to mediate a ceasefire between rival forces
The Sudanese military has captured thermobaric shells apparently supplied by the United Arab Emirates to the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary that was battling for control of Sudan for a fourth day on Tuesday.
The military released a video showing crates of the 120mm thermobaric airdrop shells with markings suggesting they were manufactured in Serbia in 2020 and later supplied to the UAE.
The release of the video posed a potential embarrassment to the UAE as it seeks to mediate alongside Egypt a ceasefire between the rival Sudanese forces. Egypt has advisors in Sudan supporting the military, while Abu Dhabi has avoided publicising its previously reported support for the RSF.
“The assertion by Washington that UAE is a partner in pursuing peace in Sudan as part of the Quad must increasingly be looked at with scepticism,” said Cameron Hudson, a former CIA officer and Sudan expert.
The Quad is the UK, US, Saudi and UAE, a group that tried to restore civilian rule after the Sudanese military and the RSF carried out a coup in 2021.
Tensions between the head of the military, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, erupted into fighting on Saturday after talks over handing power to a civilian government broke down.
Fighting is ongoing in the capital, where the RSF appears to have gained control of Khartoum airport, which is now closed.
Satellite imagery taken by Maxar shows that at least 14 aircraft were destroyed on the runway and others damaged. Fighting at Merowe airbase 200 miles north of Khartoum has destroyed at least one MiG-29 fighter and one FTC2000 Chinese fighter.
The Sudanese military’s air superiority is thought to be a major advantage over the RSF, whose bases in Khartoum have been bombed in air strikes.
Other satellite imagery showed tanks and military vehicles deployed in the streets near government buildings and on the main bridges over the Nile.
Amid intensifying violence there appeared little prospect for peace talks, according to The United Nations envoy to Sudan Volker Perthes.
“The two sides who are fighting are not giving the impression that they want mediation for peace between them right away,” he said from Khartoum.
At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, he added.
Hemedti has ruled out a ceasefire, one of his advisors said. “Right now is not the time to deal with this kind of initiative or cease-fire because the Sudanese Armed Forces are losing control,” said Yousif Ezzat, chief political adviser to the RSF leader
The RSF said on Tuesday it was fighting a battle to restore “the rights of our people”. “The new revolution … is still continuing to achieve its noble goals, foremost of which is the formation of a civil government that will lead us towards a real democratic transition,” it said in a statement
UN chief Antonio Guterres said an already precarious humanitarian situation was now catastrophic.
The original source of this article is the telegraph
