Burkinabe front company fuels UAE military supply line to Sudan paramilitaries, Le Monde
February 27, 2026 (PARIS) – A front company registered in Burkina Faso is operating as a clandestine air bridge to funnel military equipment from the United Arab Emirates to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to an investigation by Le Monde.
The airline, Batot Air, was established in Ouagadougou in August 2024 but only began flight operations in November 2025. Despite its official registration, the company’s fleet of Ilyushin and Antonov cargo planes has never landed at the Ouagadougou airport. Instead, the aircraft maintain a near-daily rotation between the UAE and the Horn of Africa, primarily targeting Ethiopia and Chad.
Records show that Batot Air has completed at least 36 flights between the UAE and Ethiopia since its inception. These flights frequently disable their transponders while over the Red Sea to avoid detection before landing at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport or the Bishoftu airbase.
The logistical network supports a recently identified RSF base in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region. The facility, reportedly financed by the UAE, is used to train and equip Sudanese paramilitaries near the border with Sudan’s Blue Nile state.
The investigation highlighted significant financial discrepancies regarding the carrier’s origins. Although Batot Air purchased three Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft in late 2025—assets worth several million euros—the company declared a capital of only 15,000 euros in the Burkinabe national business registry.
The company is owned by Mohamed Omer Suleiman Idriss, a Sudanese businessman. Beyond moving military hardware, security sources told Le Monde that the airline is used to discreetly transport the RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemetti” Daglo, and his brother, Abdelrahim Daglo.
United Nations experts indicated that the emergence of such front companies suggests the RSF is achieving greater logistical autonomy from the UAE. By diversifying its operators, the paramilitary group is moving away from traditional intermediaries in the African air freight sector, which is often dominated by entities from former Soviet republics.
The network also has ties to Prime Aviation, a mysterious Kenyan charter operator. Documents show that in January, Batot Air requested overflight rights on behalf of Prime Aviation for flights between Kenya and Chad, with stops in South Sudan.