UAE Fuels Sudan War Into Third Year, Threatening Regional Spillover

Sudan conflict spillover

Sudan’s war, which began in April 2023, has entered its third year and shows no sign of abating.

Multiple sources link the fighting to both internal rivalries and to external backers, warning these connections risk wider regional spillover.

The Canary reports the conflict pits the Sudanese government against the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and highlights investigations linking UAE-connected flights to weapons movements that supported the RSF.

The Canary warns these covert transfers and regional rivalries could lead to further escalation and the spread of the fighting across the Horn of Africa.

Radio Dabanga quotes UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih warning the war 'will spill beyond its borders' and urging unified international action.

Dabanga Radio TV Online also reports a speaker saying the conflict will spill beyond its borders and blaming years of international neglect for missed chances to stabilize Sudan.

Taken together, these accounts depict an entrenched civil war with documented foreign linkages and repeated warnings of cross-border consequences.

Alleged external involvement

Investigative and reported accounts differ in how they identify external actors and the mechanisms of support.

The Canary names a UAE-linked Antonov An-124 and reports it is said to be owned by UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

It adds that Ethiopia is also reported to be backing the RSF and that Israel has been implicated by other outlets.

Radio Dabanga and Dabanga Radio TV Online describe the war as affected by 'external interventions' and international neglect.

Radio Dabanga relays David Miliband calling it 'a complex civil war with external interventions,' while Dabanga TV stresses the conflict is driven by 'impunity and profiteering' and calls for accountability.

Together these sources show both concrete investigative claims about weapons movements and broader commentary on outside intervention and impunity.

Humanitarian toll and gaps

The humanitarian toll and operational gaps are a consistent theme across the reports.

The Canary cites very large estimates, noting some put deaths at around 150,000 and displaced people at more than 10 million.

The Canary relays UN warnings that neighbouring South Sudan could face one of the world's most complex crises, with about 10 million people expected to need aid in 2026 and over 7.5 million projected to face food insecurity.

Radio Dabanga conveys Barham Salih's field observations of acute shortages, reporting about 10 litres of water per person per day, one in three families lacking shelter, and health services reaching no more than 20% of those in need.

It also notes accounts of atrocities, including rape and murder.

Dabanga Radio TV Online adds frontline testimony from Hanin Saleh that teams of about 26,000 volunteers are filling gaps but face severe shortages and attacks against volunteers.

The combined reporting underscores both scale and operational collapse on the ground.

Political responses to Sudan crisis

Calls for political action and accountability appear across the coverage, but outlets propose different remedies.

Radio Dabanga quotes Barham Salih saying aid alone cannot stop the suffering and that political efforts to end the war are essential, while calling for stronger international and regional support and secure aid delivery.

David Miliband frames the crisis as the largest the IRC has documented, implying the need for urgent global engagement.

Dabanga Radio TV Online demands a forceful response and punishment for those who participate in or benefit from the fighting, both inside Sudan and abroad, and criticizes UNHCR responses in Egypt and Chad as very limited and too late.

The Canary frames the solution in geopolitical terms, warning that covert transfers and Gulf rivalries risk escalation and suggesting regional dynamics must be addressed.

Coverage of Darfur crisis

The sources collectively convey urgency while also presenting ambiguities and differing framings that affect how accountability and response are understood.

Radio Dabanga documents fluid front lines and ongoing violence in Darfur, Kordofan, and near the southern border, and stresses the risk of more besieged towns and future atrocities.

Dabanga Radio TV Online attributes the crisis in part to years of international neglect and missed opportunities after 2019.

theCanary directs attention to covert flights and named regional actors, making explicit allegations about who is enabling the RSF.

Because the outlets differ in focus—ranging from investigative allegations about state-linked logistics to official UN warnings from field visits and activist and medical testimony about volunteer strain—readers must weigh both the reported facts and where each source places emphasis.

When information is ambiguous or reported differently across outlets, those differences are stated plainly in the reporting rather than reconciled here.