At least 12 countries arming Sudan’s warring factions, US adviser says
September 3, 2026 (WASHINGTON) – At least 12 nations are providing military support to the warring parties in Sudan, fueling an escalating conflict across the country, U.S. Senior Advisor on Africa and Asia Massad Boulos said.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC’s Focus on Africa, Boulos said that external military backing for both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has surged sharply in recent weeks and months.
“There are probably at least 12 countries that are, in one way or the other, providing military support,” Boulos said, describing the influx of weapons and assistance as a “very sad” development that must be brought to an immediate halt.
The senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump declined to identify the specific states involved, maintaining that their identities are already well known across the international community.
He noted that all neighbouring states in the region, along with several other regional actors, are participating in or facilitating military actions in support of the rival sides.
When asked whether members of the diplomatic Quad—comprising the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom—were among the nations supplying arms, Boulos did not directly name any country.
Instead, he insisted that the other three Quad partners remain directly engaged in diplomatic efforts to broker an end to the fighting and advance a political solution.
Boulos emphasized that the expanding scope of the hostilities makes a comprehensive, nationwide arms embargo critical. The existing United Nations arms embargo applies only to Sudan’s western region of Darfur.
Washington has submitted a proposed resolution to the United Nations Security Council to expand the embargo across the entire country of Sudan, Boulos said.
The Security Council is expected to vote this month on a draft resolution to renew the broader Sudan sanctions regime before it expires on September 12.
Meanwhile, the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee is scheduled to expire on October 12.
Boulos added that the U.S. administration has imposed a series of sanctions targeting individuals and entities involved in supplying weapons and facilitating the recruitment of mercenaries and foreign fighters to the front lines.
Ethiopia has emerged as a key transit hub for military supplies bound for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, according to Rich Tedd, an open-source intelligence researcher and author who tracks regional conflict.
Tedd documented 46 suspicious cargo flights operated by 13 different Ilyushin Il-76TD aircraft travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Ethiopia during August.