Evidence of use by Iranian and UAE drones

Iran and the United Arab Emirates have been accused of violating a UN arms embargo by supplying drones to the warring sides in the 14-month conflict that has devastated Sudan. We look at evidence to support our claims.

On the morning of March 12, 2024, Sudanese government forces were celebrating an unprecedented military advance. They finally recaptured the headquarters of the state broadcaster in the capital, Khartoum.

Like most of the city, it fell into the hands of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) when the civil war began 11 months ago.

What is noteworthy about the military’s latest military victory is that the attack was captured on video with the help of Iranian drones.

According to Suliman Baldo, director of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Observatory, in the early stages of the war the army relied on the air force.

“The military found all of its preferred units surrounded and there were no combat troops on the ground,” he says.

The RSF maintained ground control over Khartoum and most of Darfur in western Sudan, while its military maintained a presence in the skies.

In early January 2024, a video of RSF shooting down a military drone appeared on Twitter.

According to Wim Zwijnenburg, a drone expert and head of the Humanitarian Disarmament Project at the Dutch peace group PAX, the drone’s remains, engines and tail were similar to an Iranian-made drone called Mohajer-6.

The Mohajer-6 is 6.5 meters long, can fly up to 2,000 km (1,240 miles), and can carry out air strikes using guided free-fall munitions.

Mr Zwijnenburg identified another version of the drone three days later in satellite images of the army’s Wadi Seidna military base, north of Khartoum.

“These drones are very effective because they can accurately identify targets with minimal training,” he says.

Three weeks after Mohajer-6 was shot down, video was released showing the RSF shooting down another drone.

Mr. Zwijnenburg matched this drone with the Zajil-3, a locally manufactured version of Iran’s Ababil-3 drone.

Zajil-3 drones have been used in Sudan for several years. However, as observed by the BBC and PAX, January marked the first time they were deployed to this war.

Last March, Mr. Zwijnenburg confirmed one more version of Zajil-3, captured in satellite images of Wadi Seidna.

“(It) shows Iran’s active support for the Sudanese military.” He spoke despite Sudan’s ruling council denying it had purchased weapons from Iran.

“If these drones are equipped with guided weapons, it means they were supplied by Iran because those weapons are not produced in Sudan,” Zwijnenburg added.

In early December last year, a Boeing 747 passenger plane belonging to Iranian cargo airline Qessim Pars Air took off from Bandar Abbas Airport in Iran and headed toward the Red Sea before disappearing from radar.

Hours later, satellites captured images of the same type of plane at Port Sudan Airport in eastern Sudan, where Sudanese military officials are stationed.

A photo of the same plane on the runway later circulated on Twitter.

These flights were repeated five times until the end of January, the same month in which the use of Iranian drones was recorded.

Qeshm Fars Air is under U.S. sanctions following numerous accusations of transporting weapons and fighter jets across the Middle East, particularly to Syria, one of Iran’s key allies.

Sudan maintained long-standing military cooperation with Iran until relations ended in 2016 due to conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Sudan sided with Saudi Arabia.

“Many of Sudan’s weapons are locally manufactured Iranian models,” said Mr. Baldo of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Observatory.

Since the start of the current conflict, Sudan’s government has restored ties with Tehran.

According to Mr. Baldo, both sides have their own goals.

“Iran is seeking a foothold in the region. If it finds geopolitical concessions, it will certainly provide a large number of more advanced drones,” he says.

The BBC contacted the Sudanese military, Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Qeshm Fars Air for comment on claims that Iranian drones are being used in the conflict, but received no response.

But Malik Agar, deputy chairman of Sudan’s sovereign parliament, told the BBC: “We do not receive weapons from any political party. Weapons are available on the black market, and the black market is now grey.”

Meanwhile, evidence emerged that early in the war the RSF used quadcopter drones made from commercial parts capable of dropping 120mm mortar rounds.

Images and videos on social media show that the military has shot down many of these drones.

Brian Castner, a weapons expert at Amnesty International, points to the UAE.

“The UAE has supplied the same drones to its allies in other conflict zones such as Ethiopia and Yemen,” he says.

A UN report submitted to the UN Security Council earlier this year said air tracking experts had seen a bridge of civilian aircraft carrying weapons from the UAE to the RSF, something the UAE denied.

The route starts at Abu Dhabi airport, passes through Nairobi and Kampala airports, and ends in Darfur, where the RSF is based, and Amjaras Airport in Chad, a few kilometers from Sudan’s western border.

The UN report also cited local sources and military groups reporting that vehicles carrying weapons were unloaded from planes at Amjarras airport several times a week before moving on to Darfur and the rest of Sudan.

“The UAE also has economic interests in Sudan and is seeking a foothold in the Red Sea,” Mr. Baldo said.

The UAE has repeatedly denied that the planes were transporting humanitarian aid, not weapons. A government official told the BBC in a statement that the UAE was committed to finding a “peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict”.

RSF did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Drones imported by both sides in the civil war are said to be in violation of a 2005 UN Security Council resolution banning the supply of weapons to the Sudanese government and armed groups in Darfur.

“The Security Council must take responsibility and take into account the conditions in Sudan, the looming famine, the number of deaths and refugees, and immediately implement a comprehensive arms embargo across Sudan,” Castner said.

The situation on the ground has partially changed since drones appeared in the Sudanese skies.

The Sudanese military broke sieges imposed on soldiers in several areas.

And the RSF withdrew from some areas west of the capital.

According to Baldo, this change has occurred thanks to Iranian drones.

After more than a year of war, at least 16,650 civilians have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Incident Data Project (Acled).

The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 12 million people have been forcibly removed from their homes. This is more than any other conflict today.

Abdullah Makkawi is currently a fugitive in Egypt. He said he narrowly escaped death when he was attacked by an RSF drone while in southern Khartoum last July.

“I ran home and took refuge in a room with a concrete roof. “My mother, four brothers and I hid under the bed,” he says.

Mr Makawi said he heard drone shells landing in the next room, which had a wooden roof.

“If we had been in another room, we would all be dead. “We miraculously survived,” he says.

In early 2024, the conflict spread to new areas outside the capital. Civilian deaths due to drone attacks were reported for the first time in northern, eastern and central Sudan.

Before fleeing to Egypt, Mr. Makawi left his family in Port Sudan, thinking it would be a safe place. But now he fears drones could reach there too.

“The Sudanese people are tired of war. All we want is for the war to stop. “It will end when foreign countries stop supporting both sides with weapons.”