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Addis Ababa airport image puts UAE cargo flights under Sudan war scrutiny
An aviation-tracking analyst counted 81 suspected cargo flights from the UAE to Ethiopia in October, most operated by Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft. He said pickup trucks unloaded in Addis Ababa were likely destined for the Rapid Support Forces, while Abu Dhabi denies providing them with military support.
An image of four-wheel-drive vehicles being unloaded from the nose of a giant cargo aircraft at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa has revived a question that has followed Sudan’s war since it began: Where are supplies reaching the Rapid Support Forces from?
Rich Tied, an analyst who tracks aviation activity in the Horn of Africa using open sources, said the Boeing 747 cargo aircraft registered as ER-MAM made 13 flights from the UAE’s Al Ain Airport to Bole since October 11, carrying Toyota Land Cruiser pickup trucks that he believed would eventually end up in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces.
The aircraft belongs to Bicotox Air, based in Moldova’s capital, Chisinau. The company owns only two aircraft of this type, ER-MAM and its sister aircraft ER-MDR, which Tied said also landed at Bole. The analyst describes the company as linked to the UAE government, although the connection and the shipment’s final destination could not be independently verified.
Unprecedented October peak
According to Tied’s tally, October was the busiest month since he began tracking the activity. He recorded at least 81 flights he described as suspicious between the UAE and Ethiopia: 57 operated by Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft, 23 by Boeing 747s and one by an Antonov An-124. About two-thirds of the flights departed from Al Ain Airport, while 26 took off from Al Reef Air Base.
On October 20, the analyst also presented a satellite image that he said showed an Ilyushin Il-76 at Assosa Airport in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, which borders Sudan’s Blue Nile State.
Khartoum accuses, Abu Dhabi denies
The findings coincide with an escalation by Sudan. On October 28, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry accused the UAE of supplying the Rapid Support Forces with drones launched from Ethiopian territory to attack airports and hospitals, and called on the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council to act. Ethiopia’s representative to the United Nations had described similar allegations raised by his Sudanese counterpart before the Security Council on October 16 as “baseless.” Addis Ababa has not publicly commented on the cargo flights.
In contrast, the UAE mission to the United Nations in Geneva said on September 4 that the country had not provided weapons or any related equipment to any party in Sudan since the war began in April 2023. An Emirati official had previously announced in February Abu Dhabi’s “categorical” rejection of allegations that it had supplied the Rapid Support Forces with weapons, vehicles or military equipment, or financed their transport.
Images: Dltl2010 / Wikimedia Commons (cover, CC0); Rich Tied (Bole airport image and map)
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