Reports reveal British weapons used by Sudan’s RSF to commit atrocities
According to the documents, the equipment reached the RSF through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), revelations that have reignited scrutiny of Britain's arms exports to the Gulf state, which has faced repeated accusations of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group in violation of United Nations (UN) embargoes.
British-made weapons and military equipment have been recovered from battlefields in Sudan, where they have been used by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to commit atrocities, documents presented to the UN Security Council have revealed.
The findings, The Guardian reports, were captured in two reports compiled by Sudan's military in June 2024 and March 2025. The reports revealed the recovery of small-arms training systems manufactured in Wales by Militec and British-built engines fitted in armoured vehicles at former RSF bases in Khartoum and Omdurman.
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According to the documents, the equipment reached the RSF through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), revelations that have reignited scrutiny of Britain's arms exports to the Gulf state, which has faced repeated accusations of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group in violation of United Nations (UN) embargoes.
Photographs in the reports show UAE-manufactured Nimr Ajban armoured personnel carriers captured from RSF sites, with some equipped with engines marked "Made in Great Britain by Cummins Inc." The data plate on one of the engines indicates it was built in 2016 by a UK subsidiary of the American company.
Similarly, export records show that between 2015 and 2024, the UK government issued 26 licences for the sale of military training devices in a category covering products made by Militec, a Welsh company whose equipment was among those recovered in Sudan.
Three months after the UN received photos showing British-made items on Sudanese battlefields, London reportedly approved an open export licence to the UAE for the same category of military equipment, allowing Britain to export unlimited quantities without strict monitoring of where the items ultimately end up.
Similarly, records suggest that by 2016, the UK government was aware that the UAE had previously supplied similar vehicles to armed groups in Libya and Yemen in breach of UN arms embargoes. Because the engines are classified as dual-use, meaning they can serve both civilian and military purposes, they do not always require special export licences.
Both the UAE and Militec have denied any wrongdoing, with the Gulf state maintaining it does not supply weapons to the RSF, while Militec says all its exports are authorised under official UK licences.
The revelations come as Sudan faces a fresh wave of violence in its western Darfur region, where reports point to ethnic cleansing by the RSF in the recently captured city of El Fasher.
Reports indicate that the paramilitary group has killed at least 1,500 people over the past three days as civilians attempted to flee the city.
Now in its third year, the conflict between the RSF and Sudan's national army has already killed more than 150,000 people, displaced over 12 million and left nearly 25 million facing severe hunger, making it one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
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