Ethiopia hosts secret camp to train Sudan’s RSF fighters, with alleged UAE backing, sources say
Ethiopia is operating a clandestine training camp for thousands of fighters destined for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, according to an investigation drawing on satellite imagery, internal Ethiopian security documents and accounts from officials and diplomats reviewed by Reuters. The development would mark the first direct evidence of Ethiopian involvement in Sudan’s war and risks deepening a regional conflict already fed by outside backers.
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- The camp sits in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region near the Sudan and South Sudan borders; activity accelerated in October, imagery shows.
- An internal note by Ethiopia’s security services said 4,300 RSF fighters were in training there as of early January, with logistics and supplies provided by the United Arab Emirates.
- The UAE denies involvement; Ethiopia’s government, its army and the RSF did not respond to detailed requests for comment.
- Satellite analysis points to capacity for thousands of trainees and concurrent upgrades for drone operations at nearby Asosa airport.
- The war in Sudan, which erupted in 2023, has driven mass displacement and atrocities and now threatens to spill deeper into neighboring countries.
Fifteen people familiar with the camp’s construction and operations—including Ethiopian officials and diplomats—described the project to Reuters. Two Ethiopian intelligence officials and satellite imagery corroborated key details cited in an internal security memo and a diplomatic cable seen by the news agency. Reuters said it could not independently verify the UAE’s role or the camp’s ultimate purpose. In a written response, the UAE Foreign Ministry said it was not a party to the conflict and “in any way” involved in the hostilities.
The site, in a district called Menge about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Sudan’s border, was carved from forest and rapidly expanded from October, according to images from Airbus Defence and Space and U.S. firm Vantor. A November 24 image showed more than 640 tents—large enough to house at least 2,500 people—along with heavy equipment and at least 18 large trucks typically used for troop transport.
A November diplomatic cable described capacity for up to 10,000 fighters and the arrival of RSF units, dozens of Land Cruisers and heavy trucks, as well as trainers from the UAE. Two officials said they saw trucks bearing the logo of Emirati logistics company Gorica Group heading toward the camp in October. Gorica did not respond to a request for comment.
As of early January, 4,300 RSF fighters were in training at the site, the Ethiopian security note said. Six officials told Reuters recruits were mostly Ethiopians, with some from South Sudan and Sudan; two of the officials said hundreds had already crossed to bolster RSF forces fighting Sudan’s army in Blue Nile state. A senior leader of the SPLM-N, the Sudanese rebel group active in Blue Nile, denied his forces were present in Ethiopia.
The internal security note identified General Getachew Gudina, chief of Ethiopia’s Defense Intelligence Department, as responsible for establishing the camp. A senior Ethiopian government official and four diplomatic and security sources confirmed his role. Getachew did not respond to a request for comment.
At Asosa airport, 33 miles (53 kilometers) from the camp, satellite images since August 2025 show new aprons, a hangar and what experts identified as a UAV ground control station and satellite antenna—features resembling two other Ethiopian drone bases. A senior Ethiopian official and a senior military official said the airport is being developed into a drone operations hub as part of a broader shift of aerial assets to Ethiopia’s west to face potential threats along the Sudan border and safeguard the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, about 63 miles (101 kilometers) from the new camp.
A Western military analyst, a regional security expert and a senior Ethiopian official said the airport upgrades were linked to the RSF’s growing footprint nearby. A diplomatic source and a regional security analyst said the UAE helped finance the refurbishment; Reuters could not independently verify who funded the work.
Sudan’s army has previously accused the UAE of supplying weapons to the RSF, a claim U.N. experts and U.S. lawmakers have deemed credible. On Jan. 6, the UAE and Ethiopia issued a joint statement calling for a cease-fire in Sudan and celebrating closer ties, which they said served each other’s security. The Sudanese Armed Forces did not respond to a request for comment.
The war, which erupted in 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF during a fraught transition toward civilian rule, has forced millions to flee into Egypt, Chad, Libya and South Sudan and stoked fears of a wider regional conflagration. The emergence of a large, cross-border training complex—equipped and supplied as the fighting intensifies in Sudan’s south—adds a new and perilous dimension to a conflict already drawing in states from the Horn of Africa and the Gulf.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
