UN Report Accuses UAE of Routing UK-Made Military Gear to Militias in Sudan, Libya and Somalia

Overview

• A confidential assessment presented to the UN Security Council alleges the UAE breached arms restrictions by channeling equipment to groups including Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces.
• Investigators and Sudanese military dossiers from June 2024 and March 2025 document Nimr Ajban vehicles built by the UAE’s Edge Group with British-made Cummins engines, and Militec targeting systems recovered from RSF positions in Khartoum and Omdurman.
• UK Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told MPs the government is aware of a small number of UK-made items found in Sudan, while saying there is no evidence of UK weapons or ammunition being used.
• The UAE denies supplying militias, and the UK defends its licensing regime as robust while resisting calls for an arms embargo on Abu Dhabi.
• UN experts warn the diversion poses a serious risk to regional stability, noting similar platforms documented in Libya and Somalia, where elements of UN arms restrictions still apply.