The FRANCE 24 Observers analysed videos showing a group allied with the Sudanese army capturing a convoy in the desert. The convoy was transporting mortar bombs. We were able to identify the munitions as having been manufactured in Bulgaria and purchased by the United Arab Emirates. The weapons ended up in Sudan, in violation of an EU embargo on sending weapons to the war-torn country.
The convoy was not just transporting weapons. The videos also show the ID papers of Colombian mercenaries who had transited through the United Arab Emirates a few weeks earlier.
The Sudanese government accuses the UAE of supporting their enemy in Sudan’s civil war: the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF militia, which rose up against the Sudanese army in April 2023, has engaged in numerous acts of violence against civilians, some perpetrated with mortar bombs similar to those traced in this investigation.
In March 2025, Sudan filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice, accusing the UAE of conspiring to commit “genocide” in Darfur by backing the RSF. On May 5, the ICJ said it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the case.
However, Reuters reported on April 29, 2025 that the UN panel of experts on Sudan was investigating the mortar rounds seized in November 2024 for potential sanctions violations.
