The tribal militia turned paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan are known to document their own war crimes.

Videos of their fighters lynching women, lashing emergency responders and cheering over dead bodies have circulated online since the start of the RSF’s war with Sudan‘s army in April 2023.

One piece of evidence never revealed in any of their violent videos is who is backing them and why?

In an exclusive interview with Sky News at a location we cannot disclose, an RSF intelligence officer confirms widespread allegations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the RSF’s main backer in a war that has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

“In the beginning, it was the Russians – Wagner and the state. Now, they tell me it is the UAE supporting the RSF,” says Ahmed*, using an alias to protect his identity.

Originally from North Darfur, Ahmed lives a double life as a refugee in one of Sudan’s neighbouring countries while staying connected to forces on the ground.

“Many of the planes landing at Nyala [in South Darfur] are said to bring weapons from the UAE and partially through the Amdjarras airport in Chad.

“It’s a financial relationship, no more,” he said. “The RSF controls areas with large gold mines – Darfur alone has more than four or five gold mines – the UAE is a gold trading hub.”

The RSF is accused of genocide in Darfur and mass looting, sexual violence and armed raids across the country.

Its troops are currently strangling the last state-held capital of North Darfur in a violent siege to complete its control of western Sudan. Close to a million people in Al Fashir locality are being starved by an RSF blockade and bombarded by daily drone strikes and shelling.

On the outskirts of North Darfur’s Karnoi town, we meet Joint Task Forces intelligence commander Idris Ali.

The Joint Task Forces are made up of former rebels from across Darfur that the military armed the RSF to crush, through mass ethnic violence in the early 2000s. Now, they are armed by the state to fight the RSF.

“Our patriotism does not allow us to surrender. Our right to the land means we have to fight until our last breath,” says Commander Ali.

Read more:
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The RSF is currently using sophisticated weapons and drones to pummel his forces and civilians in Al Fashir, and carry out strikes across Sudan.

“According to our sources, the weapons come from the UAE. Chad is just a corridor for these arms to reach Sudan,” he added.

According to his intelligence, supplies travel from Chad’s second city Abeche through the Adre crossing and into West Darfur to Al Geneina – the state capital the RSF massacred before its violent takeover in November 2023.

One video he shared with us shows a truck crossing after dark with khaki material covering its cargo.

The commander says it was filmed by sources on the Chad-Sudan border during an arms transfer from Adre town into West Darfur. There is no identifiable branding of humanitarian aid or visible signs of weapons in the footage.

In another video, a convoy of land cruisers races through terrain similar to that of eastern Chad. He says his sources also documented this at the Adre crossing and alleges that the land cruisers are painted in RSF colours and turned into lethal ‘technicals’ [weaponised civilian vehicles] once in West Darfur.

He describes a second route that runs south of the border town Tine into North Darfur. Further north, he says RSF arms and supplies land in Amdjarras airport in Chad and head to the main RSF base and supply hub in Zurug town.

At least 86 flights travelling from the UAE to Amdjarras airport were independently documented by December 2024.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on 4 September, the Sudanese authorities alleged no fewer than 248 flights between November 2024 and February 2025 were operated by UAE-chartered aircraft to smuggle mercenaries, weapons and military equipment into Sudanese territory.

More recently, online flight tracker @AfriMEOSINT noted flights from the UAE arriving in N’djamena airport in Chad’s capital. On 20 September, a cargo flight left Al Reef airbase in Abu Dhabi and landed in the military section of N’Djamena airport.

In April, the Guardian reported on a leaked United Nations report that documented a consistent pattern of Ilyushin 1L-76TD cargo flights originating from the UAE into Chad, with multiple flights making deliberate attempts to avoid detection and identified at least three overland routes from Chad potentially used for transporting weapons into Sudan.

According to the Guardian, the experts added they could not identify what the planes were carrying or locate any evidence the planes were transporting weapons. These findings were not included in the final 39-page report.

UAE ‘categorically rejects’ claims

We presented the allegations in our report to the UAE’s foreign ministry. It sent us this response:

“Since the onset of the civil war, the UAE has consistently supported regional and international efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for violations committed by all warring parties.

“The UAE remains committed to a civilian-led process that places the needs of the Sudanese people above the interests of any faction.

“In this spirit, the UAE notes a marked increase in unfounded accusations and deliberate propaganda from the so-called Port Sudan Authority, one of the warring parties to the civil war, which actively undermines efforts to end the conflict and restore stability.

“These escalating fabrications form part of a calculated pattern of deflection – shifting blame to others to evade responsibility for its own actions – intended to prolong the war and obstruct a genuine peace process.

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“We categorically reject any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war, and condemn atrocities committed by both Port Sudan Authority and RSF.

“The latest UN Panel of Experts report makes clear that there is no substantiated evidence that the UAE has provided any support to RSF, or has any involvement in the conflict.

“The UAE reaffirms its unwavering commitment to working closely with partners to foster dialogue, mobilise international support, and contribute to initiatives that address the humanitarian crisis and lay the groundwork for sustainable peace.

“These efforts will assist in building a secure and stable future for Sudan that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Sudanese people for peace and development.”

The Chadian government did not respond to our request for comment.

PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani matched his career high with his 54th home run, Freddie Freeman went deep twice and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their 12th National League West title in 13 years by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-0 on Thursday.

Ohtani’s homer splashed into Chase Field’s swimming pool behind the right-center wall for a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning. The two-run shot gave him 101 RBIs for the season and matched his career-best home run total with the World Series champion Dodgers last year. He has scored a big league-high 144 runs.

Los Angeles, which clinched a postseason berth last week, won its fourth straight division title.

Arizona (80-79) fell 1½ games behind the New York Mets (81-77) for the final NL wild-card spot and also is one game back of Cincinnati (81-78). The Diamondbacks close with three games at San Diego.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8) allowed four hits in six innings and struck out seven to finish with 201. His 2.49 ERA ranked second in the NL behind the 1.97 ERA of Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes.

Three relievers finished a five-hitter in the Dodgers’ 10th shutout.

Freeman and Andy Pages homered back to back starting the second inning, Freeman off opener Jalen Beeks (5-3) and Pages against Nabil Crismatt. Mookie Betts added a two-run single.

Freeman, who had three RBIs, has 23 homers while Pages has 27.

Arizona finished 43-38 at Chase Field. The crowd of 34,952 raised home attendance to 2,393,773, the Diamondbacks’ highest since 2008.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Bruce Bochy is in the final games of his three-year contract with the Texas Rangers, a span that began with the franchise’s only World Series title, but baseball’s winningest active manager isn’t ready to discuss if he will be back next season.

“Season’s not over. It’s something we’ll talk about when the season’s over,” Bochy said before the Rangers lost 4-0 to Minnesota in their home finale Thursday. “So I’m going to stick with that right now and see if we can win a couple of games here.”

Both Bochy, who turned 70 this season, and Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said they will talk about next season after this one is done. The Rangers, who will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row since that championship in 2023, finish with three games at Cleveland this weekend.

“The two of us will sit down and talk about where things are, what happened this year, where we’re going,” Young said. “There’s things that I’m sure he’s going to want to know about the future of the team and we’ll talk about it, like we did three years ago, and figure it out.”

Young, who pitched a season for Bochy in San Diego, was the Rangers general manager when he hired Bochy as manager after the 2022 season. They were coming off their sixth consecutive losing season, the longest streak in the half-century since the franchise moved to Texas in 1972.

At that time, Bochy had been out of managing for three seasons. He stepped away from the San Francisco Giants in 2019 after 13 seasons and three World Series titles, which followed 12 seasons and a National League pennant with the Padres.

“Just love him. He’s great. I love working with him. He’s been wonderful,” Young said. “He came here to win a World Series. He’s helped us accomplish that. And, you know, we’ll figure out what the future holds.”

Young didn’t have a timeline on how quickly a decision could be made after the season ends this weekend.

The Rangers (80-79) were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night when they lost their eighth straight game, but ended that losing streak the next night. They can still finish with a winning record, but would have to win two out of three against the playoff-chasing Guardians.

Bochy has a career record of 2,251-2,264 over his 28 seasons, with those wins ranking sixth among all managers – the five ahead of him are all in the Hall of Fame. No managers in the past 60 years have more than Bochy’s four World Series titles, and the only ones all-time with more are Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel and Connie Mack.

“Oh, I’ve really had a great time, and it’s as much fun as I’ve had in the game,” Bochy said of his three seasons back in the dugout. “I said this when I came back, you have a deeper appreciation when you’re out, especially for three years and you realize what you have, how blessed you are to be doing what you’re doing. It’s been a lot of fun and I still love it, and enjoy it.”

The only current MLB manager older than Bochy is 73-year-old Ron Washington with the Angels, though he hasn’t managed a game for the Angels since June 19 before he had quadruple bypass heart surgery.