Drones, gold, and threats: Sudan’s war raises regional tensions

On May 4, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a barrage of termination drones astatine Port Sudan, the army’s de facto wartime superior connected the Red Sea.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) accused overseas actors of supporting the RSF’s attacks and adjacent threatened to sever ties with 1 of its biggest trading partners.

The RSF amazed galore with the strikes. It had utilized drones before, but ne'er deed targets arsenic acold distant arsenic Port Sudan, which utilized to beryllium a haven, until past week.

“The strikes … led to a immense displacement from the city. Many radical near Port Sudan,” Aza Aera, a section alleviation worker, told Al Jazeera. “If the aggression continues … I deliberation I’ll permission similar everyone else.”

A drone war

When a civilian warfare erupted betwixt the SAF and RSF successful April 2023, the service had aerial supremacy owed to its fleet of warplanes and drones.

Yet the RSF is closing the spread with an arsenal of termination drones, which it utilized connected Port Sudan for six consecutive days, hitting an service base, a civilian airport, respective hotels, and a substance depot, which caused a monolithic blast.

“Sudan had already entered the signifier of drone warfare implicit the past … fewer months astatine least,” said Suliman Baldo, the laminitis of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker deliberation tank.

The service mostly relies connected the comparatively affordable Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones, reportedly receiving $120m worthy of them since precocious 2023.

Bayraktars tin question agelong distances with a ample payload, and the service says they helped it regain swaths of territory from the RSF successful eastbound and cardinal Sudan betwixt September 2024 and March 2025, including the superior Khartoum.

Despite losing important ground, the RSF past stepped up its aggression against the SAF with Chinese-made drones, according to a caller study by Amnesty International.

The quality rights group, Sudan’s de facto subject authorities and different monitors each impeach the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of purchasing these drones – and different weapons – and supplying them to the RSF.

The UAE has denied the accusations arsenic “baseless”.

“The UAE powerfully rejects the proposition that it is supplying weapons to immoderate enactment progressive successful the ongoing struggle successful Sudan,” said Salem Aljaberi, a spokesperson for the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, successful a connection connected X.

Regardless, the expanding usage of drones by some sides marks an escalation and risks exacerbating an already catastrophic concern for civilians, according to experts and quality rights monitors.

Bold announcement

On May 6, the army-backed authorities successful Port Sudan announced the severing of each ties with the UAE aft accusing it of being down the attacks.

The service relies connected comparatively affordable Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones [Courtesy: Creative Commons]

That announcement was not good thought-out, according to Baldo.

Sudan’s service could suffer tens of millions of dollars successful golden revenue, arsenic good arsenic entree to captious banking operations, helium told Al Jazeera.

A UAE-backed company, Emiral Resources, owns a bulk of shares successful Sudan’s largest golden mine, the Kush mine.

Kush is administered by Sudan’s army, which apt sells tens of millions of dollars worthy of golden to the UAE.

According to the Central Bank of Sudan, astir 97 percent of golden exports from army-controlled areas went to the UAE successful 2023.

Kush exported astatine slightest 1 tonne of golden successful 2024, though it is unclear however overmuch higher the fig is for production.

Furthermore, UAE banks ain a bulk stock successful the Bank of Khartoum, whose integer platform, Bankak, facilitates wealth transfers for millions of displaced Sudanese and nationalist institutions.

The UAE authorities besides owns El Nilein Bank, which manages and approves planetary transactions connected behalf of Port Sudan, according to a study that Baldo co-authored successful March for the Chatham House deliberation tank.

“This was a rushed determination [to chopped ties with the UAE] that volition person superior consequences … owed to the UAE’s power implicit [Sudan’s] nationalist economy,” Baldo told Al Jazeera.

Major escalation?

Sudan’s service has not clarified however and erstwhile it volition sever ties with the UAE.

On May 6, SAF main Abdel Fattah al-Burhan vowed successful a video to “defeat the militia (RSF) and those who assistance them”.

Al Jazeera sent written questions to service spokesperson Nabil Abdullah, asking if Port Sudan volition instrumentality the announced suspension.

No reply was received by clip of publication.

For its part, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera successful an email that it volition not retaliate against Port Sudan.

“The connection issued by the alleged ‘Security and Defence Council’ volition not impact the deep-rooted and enduring ties betwixt the UAE and the Republic of the Sudan, and their peoples,” the emailed connection said.

Meanwhile, experts and observers judge the warfare successful Sudan is trending towards a large escalation.

The army’s determination backers could respond to the RSF’s accrued usage of drones by doubling down connected their enactment for the army, warned Alan Boswell, a Sudan adept for the International Crisis Group.

“The evident hazard [from the attacks connected Port Sudan] is that it brings different [regional powers] into deeper engagement connected the army’s side,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“We could spot an escalating warfare with greater and greater firepower, and thing would beryllium near of Sudan’s infrastructure by the extremity of it.”

Thousands of radical person been pushed to informal campgrounds, similar this 1 adjacent Tawila successful North Darfur, arsenic the warring rages connected betwixt the service and RSF. On February 11, 2025 [Unknown/AFP]