UK military equipment used by militia accused of genocide found in Sudan, UN told | Global development

British military equipment used by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been found on battlefields in Sudan. Paramilitary group accused of genocideAccording to documents reviewed by the UN Security Council.

UK-produced small arms targeting systems and British-made engines for armored personnel carriers have been seized from battlefields in a conflict that has now caused the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

The findings have led to a renewed review of British arms exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been repeatedly accused of supplying arms to the paramilitary RSF in Sudan.

They also raise questions about the UK government and its potential role in fueling the conflict.

months later UN security council First came material claiming that BAE may have supplied British-made products to RSF; new data shows the British government continues to approve more exports to the Gulf country for the same type of military equipment.

British engines built specifically for a type of armored personnel carrier produced by the UAE also appear to have been exported to the Emirates, despite evidence that the vehicles were used in Libya and Yemen in defiance of UN arms embargoes.

The UAE has repeatedly denied allegations that it provides military support to the RSF.

The war between the RSF and the Sudanese army is entering its third year. killed at least 150,000 peopleIt has forced more than 12 million people to flee their homes and left nearly 25 million facing acute hunger. Both sides are accused of war crimes and targeting civilians.

UK military equipment in Sudan is included in two material dossiers dated June 2024 and March 2025 and seen by the security council. Both were compiled by the Sudanese military and claim to provide detailed “evidence of Emirati support” for the RSF.

Evidence that the UK continues to supply military equipment to the UAE despite the risk of fueling Sudan’s devastating conflict has raised deep concerns.

Mike Lewis is a researcher and former member. UN expert panel on SudanHe said: “UK and treaty law clearly requires the government not to authorize arms exports where there is a clear risk of diversion or use in international crimes.

“Security council investigators have documented in detail the UAE’s decade-long history of diverting weapons to embargoed countries and forces violating international humanitarian law.”

Lewis added: “Even before this additional information about British-made equipment in Sudan, these licenses should not have been issued to other governments responsible for weaponizing the Sudanese conflict.”

Abdallah Idriss Abugarda, president of the UK-based Darfur Diaspora Association, which represents Sudanese in the western region of Darfur, called for an investigation into the matter.

“The international community, including the UK, must urgently investigate how this transfer took place and ensure that no British technology or weapons contributed to the suffering of innocent Sudanese civilians. Accountability and strict monitoring of end use is essential to prevent further complicity in these grave crimes,” he said.

Images contained in two material dossiers seen by the security council, of which the UK is a permanent member, show British-made small arms targeting devices being seized from former RSF sites in Sudan’s capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman.

Although difficult to verify without metadata or precise geolocation information, many photos are marked with tags stating that they were made by. Militec, A manufacturer of small arms training and targeting systems based in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.

Databases show that the UK government granted Militec a number of licenses to export products to the UAE as far back as 2013.

The new information also reveals that between January 2015 and September 2024, the UK government issued 26 licenses for the permanent export of military training devices in the ‘ML14’ category, which includes Militec products, to the UAE.

These licenses were given to 14 companies, including Militec. The government refused to disclose which licenses were granted to which companies.

The licenses were issued on 27 September 2024 (three months after the UN Security Council received images alleging the presence of ML14-class small arms equipment in Sudan) when the UK government “Open individual export license” to UAE for products in the same category.

Such open licenses allow the UK to export unlimited amounts of equipment for the life of the agreement, but without the need to monitor where this ultimately leads.

By September 2024 there were growing concerns that the UAE was arming Sudan’s RSF.

Nine months ago, in January 2024, a report by the UN panel of experts on Sudan tasked by the Security Council to monitor the arms embargo of Darfur. He cited allegations that Emirates supplied weapons According to RSF, it was “reliable”.

Years ago, the UK government also obtained evidence that UAE-based firms could pose a diversion risk for small arms accessories. Three years ago, the UK allowed the export of UK-made night vision binoculars to one country. UAE business later purchased by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Militec was contacted but declined to comment. It was understood that all of its exports were licensed by the relevant UK authorities and that the company had no faults.

Images in files seen by UN diplomats show Nimr Ajban series armored personnel carriers (APCs) were allegedly captured or recovered from RSF positions.

Nimr Ajban APCs are manufactured by UAE. Edge GroupIt is primarily a state-owned arms holding company.

A photograph in the 2025 document shows the data plate for the engine of a Nimr APC marked “Made in Great Britain by Cummins Inc”, indicating that it was produced by a UK subsidiary of Cummins, a US company, on 16 June 2016.

By 2016 the UK government was aware that the UAE was supplying Nimr APCs to armed groups in Libya and Somalia, in violation of the UN arms embargo.

The evidence published by the Security Council is as follows: UAE had supplied armored vehicles To the Zintan militia in Libya in 2013.

There appears to be no UK licensing data to show when the British-built engine for Nimr vehicles was exported, as these vehicles are not designed solely for military equipment and do not require a special licence.

A Cummins spokesperson said: “Cummins has a strong culture of compliance, as evidenced by our 10 ethical principles set out in our code of business conduct. Our code expressly covers compliance with applicable sanctions and export controls in the jurisdictions in which Cummins does business, and in some cases our policies go beyond applicable legal requirements.

“Cummins also has a strong policy against participating in any transaction, directly or indirectly, with any arms embargoed destination without full and complete authorization from the relevant government authorities.

“Cummins has a process to thoroughly review all defense transactions to assess legal and policy considerations, and under this program we have regularly obtained export licenses and implemented other compliance measures where legally required.

“Specifically with respect to Sudan, we reviewed all of our past transactions and did not identify any military transactions that specified Sudan as the end-use point.”

A spokesman for Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “The UK has one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. “All export licenses are assessed for the risk of diversion to an unintended end user or end use.

“We expect all countries to comply with their obligations under existing UN sanctions regimes,” the FCDO said.

Sources said licensing decisions were taken on a case-by-case basis and the UK was aware of the risk of heading into conflict in Sudan and was regularly refused export licenses, including those granted to the UAE.

UAE declined to comment.