LONDON — The British government has admitted U.K.-made military equipment has been found in Sudan, amid escalating reports of the mass slaughter of civilians.
The government was challenged by MPs Thursday about a Guardian report this week that U.K.-manufactured technology had been recovered from battlefields in Sudan, used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.
Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty drew a distinction between “items” and “weaponry” discovered in Sudan, telling MPs: “We are aware of reports of a small number of U.K.-made items having been found in Sudan, but there is no evidence in the recent reporting of U.K. weapons or ammunition being used in Sudan.”
The British-made equipment identified in Sudan were small-arms target systems and engines for armored personnel carriers, according to the Guardian.
He resisted calls from the Liberal Democrats for an arms embargo on the UAE, which is widely suspected of arming the RSF, arguing that Britain’s export regime was “one of the most robust in the world.”
The furor comes as the U.N. Security Council is planning a meeting on the war in Sudan.
A report by the U.N. panel of experts on Sudan in 2024 — appointed by the Security Council to monitor Darfur’s arms embargo — stated that claims the Emirates were supplying weapons to the RSF were “credible.”
The UAE has repeatedly denied allegations it gives military support to the RSF.
Doughty added that the U.K. would use its role on the U.N. Security Council, which is due to meet to discuss Sudan, “to call for an immediate end to this violence [and] ensure that international humanitarian law is respected and upheld.”
Sudan’s army is in its third year of conflict with the RSF, which has so far killed at least 150,000 people.
RSF paramilitary fighters shared social media videos this week appearing to document mass killings carried out during the capture of el-Fasher in the Darfur region of Sudan.
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