Sudan will sever diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, its army-affiliated defence council announced on Tuesday, escalating tensions in the country’s ongoing civil war. The move follows fresh accusations that the UAE has been providing military support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the army’s main rival in the two-year-old conflict.
The defence council accused the UAE of supplying the RSF with advanced weaponry that enabled the group to carry out destructive strikes on key infrastructure in Port Sudan since Sunday. The attacks mark a significant escalation in the conflict and have caused widespread damage in the strategic Red Sea city.
In a strongly worded statement, the council declared the UAE an “aggressor state” and said Sudan “reserves the right to respond to the aggression by every means to preserve the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Speaking from Port Sudan shortly after the announcement, Sudan’s army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan vowed retaliation. “We say to those who attacked the Sudanese people that the time for retribution will come, and the people will prevail in the end,” he said, delivering his televised address against the backdrop of smoke rising from damaged port facilities.
Sudan’s military leadership has long accused Abu Dhabi of arming the RSF, an allegation the UAE has repeatedly denied. While some human rights organisations and US lawmakers have cited credible evidence of external arms supply to the RSF, the UAE has maintained its innocence. A recent U.N. panel of experts’ report, published in April, did not directly implicate the UAE but referenced its involvement in peace efforts.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday declined to rule on Sudan’s case accusing the UAE of contributing to genocide in Darfur by arming paramilitary groups, citing lack of jurisdiction. Sudan had argued that the UAE was in violation of the Genocide Convention, but the court concluded it did not have the authority to proceed.
The latest diplomatic rift highlights the growing complexity of Sudan’s civil war and the regional dynamics that continue to shape it. As international calls for peace grow louder, Sudan’s leadership appears determined to confront what it sees as foreign interference in its internal conflict.