Ethiopia… Militia Camps
By Abdelmalik Al-Naeem Ahmed
We previously wrote about neighboring African countries that have remained the primary supporters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and foreign mercenaries, providing safe corridors for Emirati weapons shipments and airports for aircraft carrying supplies and fighters. All of this has taken place amid complete silence from the African Union, which has continued to suspend Sudan’s membership since 2021 on flimsy grounds that no longer exist. Yet the AU continues to punish Sudan twice—first by freezing its membership and endorsing the Quartet’s position, and second by remaining silent on the collusion of neighboring African states against Sudan, a fact well known to the entire world.
The cooperation between Chad and the rebel forces—financed by the UAE—is no longer a secret. It has opened the airports of N’Djamena and Um Jaras, as well as the Adré crossing, to allow the flow of military equipment and mercenaries into Darfur, followed by the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Added to this is Kenya’s role, hosting meetings and providing territory for what was dubbed a “Transitional Government,” announced from Nairobi. As for Uganda under Museveni, it is enough to recall the statement made by his son, the army commander, who threatened that his forces could enter Khartoum—an echo of the past, reminiscent of the tripartite aggression and the heavy rains campaign that accompanied John Garang’s rebellion during the era of the former government.
Despite Ethiopia’s numerous statements supporting the rebellion and mercenaries, its unilateral decisions regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam without consulting its two partners, Sudan and Egypt, and the periodic skirmishes in the border region of Al-Fashaga, new developments have emerged in recent days concerning Ethiopia’s involvement. The country has escalated its support for the rebellion and even entered the conflict directly by opening training camps for rebels and mercenaries on its own territory.
According to recent reports, Ethiopia has established mercenary training camps in the Benishangul region with declared Emirati backing. Rebels are entering from South Sudan, Ethiopia itself, Chad, several African countries, and even Colombia, through the ports of Berbera and Assosa, en route to a camp that is said to house 10,000 fighters preparing to enter Sudan under an Emirati plan.
This is happening despite international condemnations of the rebellion, the militia, and the UAE. Yet the continued silence of the Arab League toward the UAE and that of the African Union toward Sudan’s neighboring states has seemingly emboldened Abu Dhabi to seek new territories deep inside Ethiopia from which to launch attacks from the east—after securing the west through its effective control of the five states of Darfur and the hit-and-run operations now occurring in parts of Kordofan, where rebels seize towns and generate fear and instability.
All of this unfolds while the world watches the crimes of the RSF, issuing statements that offer little assurance of genuine intent or implementation on the ground. Does Ethiopia’s opening of training camps for the rebels represent a new phase in expanding the assault on Sudan? Or is it merely the execution of a pre-existing Ethiopian-Emirati plan whose time has come?
