Sudan’s RSF accuses Egypt of involvement in air strikes on its forces

Egypt has denied the allegations by the paramilitary group’s leader and says its military is not involved in the conflict.

The leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has accused Egypt of being involved in air strikes on the paramilitary group, but Cairo has rejected Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s claims.

Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, claimed that Egypt was using United States bombs in its strikes targeting his forces near Jebel Moya, a key area south of the capital, Khartoum.

“If the Americans were not in agreement these bombs would not reach Sudan,” he said in a video posted online on Wednesday.

“Egypt is fighting us,” he said, accusing it of being one of six countries of interfering in the conflict, including Iran.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recently gained an upper hand in the fighting that erupted in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Dagalo broke out in a conflict that has so far displaced more than 10 million people – about 8.1 million people inside Sudan while about two million have been forced to flee the country – according to data from the United Nations.

Dagalo also claimed that Egypt provided training and drones to the SAF and al-Burhan.

Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the accusations regarding the participation of its air force in the continuing war in Sudan.

“While Egypt denies those claims, it calls on the international community to ascertain the evidence that proves the truth of what the RSF militia leader said,” the ministry said in a statement.

Egypt has been involved in efforts alongside the US and Saudi Arabia to mediate the conflict. It also hosted talks between rival political factions earlier this year.

The SAF recently made advances in Khartoum and the southeastern Sennar state, where the RSF chief suggested the alleged Egyptian air strikes against his troops pushed them back from the strategic Jebel Moya area.

Dagalo also claimed Tigrayan, Eritrean, Azerbaijani and Ukrainian mercenaries were present in the country.

The war in Sudan has witnessed waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF, which has also been accused of crimes against humanity and sexual violence.

But rights groups have said that the SAF has also targeted civilians, indiscriminately shelled residential areas and blocked aid. In August, the army refused to attend talks in Switzerland aimed at ending the war.

“This war will not end in one or two, three, four years. Some talk about one million soldiers and soon we will reach one million,” Dagalo said.

The United Arab Emirates has also been accused of meddling in the war. Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, accused the UAE in June of arming the RSF.

In January, a UN report compiled for the UN Security Council said it had “credible” evidence that the UAE had sent weapons to the RSF “several times per week” via Amdjarass in northern Chad. The UAE denied the accusation.

Sudan’s military government refuted accusations from the UAE in September that it bombed the residence of the emirates’ ambassador in Khartoum, pointing instead at the rival RSF.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies