Sudan demands China act against RSF drone use, accuses UAE

PORT SUDAN, Sudan

The Sudanese government on Thursday demanded that China take a firm stance on Chinese-made drones used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to bomb civilian and military sites across the country and disable the technology used to operate them.

Since the start of the year, the Rapid Support Forces have intensified bombing of power stations and dams, as well as civilian and military airports in a number of cities, using advanced Chinese-made drones.

In a statement received by our correspondent, the official spokesperson for the Sudanese government and Minister of Information, Khalid Aleisir, said: “We, in the government of Sudan, see that the involvement of the Abu Dhabi regime in fuelling the war and committing massacres against the Sudanese people necessitates the Chinese government taking a firm and urgent stance to disable the technology used to operate these drones, in order to preserve its international credibility and in respect for its historical and firm relations with Sudan and its people.”

Aleisir said China, a friendly state to Sudan and its people with whom it has historical relations and mutual strategic interests, was requested to intervene urgently with the Abu Dhabi regime, which he said had violated commitments under arms purchase contracts from China and what is known as the “End-user certificate (EUC),” by enabling what he called the rebellious Rapid Support Forces militia to acquire Chinese-made suicide and strategic drones.

He said the Rapid Support Forces were using the weapons to threaten Sudanese national security by targeting and destroying vital facilities, hospitals, power and water stations, and fuel depots, in addition to committing crimes against humanity and grave violations of international humanitarian law by bombing unarmed civilians, hotels and health facilities, and killing women and children.

The minister added that the Abu Dhabi regime’s supply of Chinese-made weapons to the militia clearly contradicted the historical positions of the People’s Republic of China and its deep relations with Sudan and its people, embodied by prominent landmarks, including the famous Friendship Hall building in Khartoum.

The Sudanese army accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of providing strategic drones to the Rapid Support Forces capable of carrying 50 kg of explosives and equipped with an anti-jamming system, some of which launch from airports inside Chad.

On May 6, the Sudanese government cut diplomatic relations with the UAE and declared it an aggressor state, accusing Abu Dhabi of providing strategic weapons to the Rapid Support Forces.

The decision to sever relations came a day after Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast, was hit by drone attacks that targeted an air and naval base, oil facilities, a port, a power station and a hotel.