Sudan cuts diplomatic ties with UAE over alleged support for RSF

Sudan has officially ended diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, escalating tensions over accusations that the Gulf state is supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the country's civil war.

The move follows repeated claims by Sudanese authorities that the UAE is helping the RSF with military, financial, and political support.

The decision was confirmed after a wave of drone attacks in Port Sudan that started on Sunday and lasted through Wednesday.

The Sudanese army blamed the RSF for the strikes, which targeted key infrastructure in a city previously seen as safe from the ongoing war.

Defence Minister Yassin Ibrahim on Tuesday stated that the UAE had crossed a line.

He accused the country of breaching Sudan’s sovereignty through its involvement with the RSF. “Proxy” involvement, he claimed, was putting Sudan’s future at risk.

Despite these allegations, the UAE has consistently denied any role in backing the RSF.

A statement from the Gulf country maintained that it had not given any form of support to the group, either financially or militarily.

As part of the diplomatic fallout, Sudan will withdraw its ambassador from the UAE and shut down its diplomatic missions there.

This marks a sharp deterioration in relations between the two nations, which had previously maintained strong ties.

In the latest escalation, drone strikes reportedly hit an international airport, a hotel, and a major power facility in Port Sudan.

On Wednesday, the army said it had stopped an attempted attack on the country’s largest naval base.

"They [the drones] were met with anti-aircraft missiles," a source told the AFP news agency.

The RSF has not publicly responded to the accusations about the Port Sudan attacks.

The city had remained one of the last places in the country relatively untouched by the war, making the strikes even more alarming.

The ongoing conflict has dragged on for two years, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced.

Aid agencies describe the situation as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Both the army and RSF have been accused of committing war crimes during the conflict.

Calls from the international community for foreign actors to stop supporting the warring sides have been growing louder.

The UK and US have previously named the UAE in separate statements urging outside countries to stop fueling the conflict.

Earlier this week, the United Nations' top court in The Hague threw out a case brought by Sudan against the UAE.

The case accused the Gulf state of being involved in genocide.

The International Court of Justice ruled that the claim could not move forward because the UAE had opted out of Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, which bars such lawsuits.

Reem Ketait, the UAE’s deputy assistant minister for political affairs, said after the ruling, "The international community must focus urgently on ending this devastating war and supporting the Sudanese people, and it must demand humanitarian aid reaches all those in need.” She called the court’s decision "clear and decisive."

With both the RSF and Sudanese army facing accusations of war crimes, and foreign involvement adding to the complexity, the diplomatic break with the UAE adds another layer to an already dire situation.