News Desk
KHARTOUM, BERLIN, PARIS — When fighters from Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed El Fasher this year, residents described not only the brutality of the assault but the unmistakable presence of European‑made arms. Mortar shells stamped with Bulgarian markings, armoured vehicles fitted with French defensive systems, and even British‑origin equipment were documented on the battlefield.
The revelations have ignited a storm in Europe, exposing how weapons manufactured under strict export controls are finding their way into one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts — despite United Nations and European Union embargoes.
Investigations by France24 and Amnesty International show that Bulgarian‑made 81mm mortar rounds, exported legally to the United Arab Emirates with end‑user certificates, were later diverted into RSF supply lines. Convoys intercepted in Darfur carried these munitions alongside foreign mercenaries and Emirati cash.
Similarly, Nimr Ajban armoured personnel carriers, manufactured in the UAE but equipped with French Galix self‑protection systems, have been filmed in Khartoum and Darfur under RSF control. Amnesty verified the systems’ origin, noting that France had licensed their export to Abu Dhabi under assurances they would not be re‑exported.
The United Kingdom has also acknowledged that UK‑made equipment has surfaced in Sudan, though details of the diversion remain opaque.
Denials and silence
- Germany has denied any direct export of G36 rifles or other systems to Sudan, insisting that any German‑made weapons observed in RSF hands arrived via illicit trafficking networks.
- France has not publicly addressed Amnesty’s findings on Galix systems, drawing criticism from rights groups for “strategic silence.”
- Bulgaria admitted selling mortars to the UAE but claimed ignorance of their re‑export, telling UN investigators that responsibility lay with Gulf intermediaries.
- UAE categorically denies supporting either side in Sudan, despite documentary evidence of Emirati procurement contracts and logistical involvement in eastern Libya supply chains.
Smuggling corridors
Weapons flow into Sudan through porous borders:
- Eastern Libya, controlled by Khalifa Haftar and closely aligned with the UAE, serves as a staging ground.
- Chad and South Sudan provide desert routes into Darfur.
- Ports in Somalia and Kenya have been flagged as entry points for Chinese and European arms alike.
Analysts note that while the RSF’s arsenal includes Chinese drones and Russian small arms, the presence of advanced European systems lends the militia a battlefield edge and symbolic legitimacy.
The UN arms embargo applies narrowly to Darfur, leaving other regions uncovered. The EU maintains a broader embargo, but enforcement relies on end‑user certificates and post‑shipment verification — mechanisms easily circumvented when trusted partners like the UAE act as intermediaries.
Amnesty International has urged France and Bulgaria to suspend exports where diversion risks are high, and called for the UN embargo to be expanded nationwide.
The human toll is staggering massacres in El Fasher, ethnic cleansing patterns in Darfur, and systematic sexual violence documented by UN monitors. European weapons, though not supplied directly, are implicated in enabling these atrocities.
“Germany is not directly complicit,” said Sudanese analyst Obi Az‑Din Awad, “but its weapons, like those of France and Bulgaria, are entering through Libya and the Gulf. The responsibility lies in weak enforcement and political cover for allies who profit from Sudan’s gold and chaos”.
Rights groups warn that unless Europe tightens controls and confronts its partners, the RSF will continue to replenish its arsenal — prolonging a war that has already displaced millions.
Experts propose:
- Expanding the UN embargo to all of Sudan.
- Enforcing post‑shipment audits and suspending exports to diversion‑prone states.
- Targeting transit nodes in Libya and Chad with sanctions.
- Documenting violations for potential ICC prosecutions.
Without such measures, Europe risks being remembered not only as a bystander but as an indirect supplier to one of Africa’s most devastating wars.
