With UAE funding… Ethiopia builds secret camp to train Sudanese RSF fighters
Ethiopia is hosting a secret training camp for thousands of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters fighting the army in neighboring Sudan.
The camp is the first direct evidence of Ethiopia’s involvement in Sudan’s civil war, which could represent a dangerous development as it provides the RSF with a large supply of new soldiers as fighting escalates in the south of the country.
According to a senior Ethiopian government official, the UAE had funded the construction of the camp and provided military trainers and logistical support for the site, according to an internal memo from Ethiopia’s security services and a diplomatic cable.
Reuters spoke to 15 sources familiar with the camp’s construction and operations, including Ethiopian officials and diplomats, and analyzed satellite imagery of the area.
Two Ethiopian intelligence officials and satellite imagery provided information confirming the details contained in the security note and the telegram.
There have been no reports of the camp’s location and size, or detailed statements about the UAE’s involvement.
The images show the extent of the new expansion, which has taken place over the past few weeks, along with the construction of a ground control center for drones at a nearby airport.
Satellite imagery indicates that activity increased in October at the camp, which is located in the remote western region of Bani Shangul-Qomz, near the border with Sudan.
Spokesmen for the Ethiopian government, the Ethiopian military, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) didn’t respond to requests for comment on the report’s findings, noting that on January 6, the UAE and Ethiopia issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire in Sudan, as well as celebrating the relationship, which they said serves to defend each other’s security.
The Ethiopian security services memo said that in early January, 4,300 Rapid Support Forces fighters were receiving military training at the site, for whom the UAE is providing logistical and military supplies.
Sudan’s military has previously accused the UAE of supplying weapons to the RSF, an accusation that has been credible by UN experts and US lawmakers.
Officials said the recruits in the camp were mostly Ethiopians, but there were also South Sudanese and Sudanese nationals, including those from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, a Sudanese rebel group that controls territory in neighboring Blue Nile state.
Officials said the recruits were expected to join the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is fighting Sudanese soldiers in Blue Nile state, which has become a frontline in the struggle for control of Sudan, as hundreds had already crossed in the past few weeks to support paramilitary forces in Blue Nile.
Satellite images and diplomatic telegram revealed that the camp was set up in a wooded area in a neighborhood called Minji, about 32 kilometers from the border, and is strategically located at the meeting of the two countries and South Sudan.
The first signs of activity in the area began in April, with the clearing of deforestation and the construction of buildings with metal roofs in a small area north of the camp area, where work began in the second half of October.
The diplomatic cable, dated back in November, described the camp as having a capacity of 10,000 fighters, and said the activity began in October with the arrival of dozens of Land Cruisers, heavy trucks, Rapid Support Forces units and Emirati trainers.
Two officials said they saw trucks bearing the logo of the UAE’s logistics company Gorica Group heading through the town of Assosa towards the camp in October.
An Ethiopian government official said the machinery used to build the training camp, including bulldozers and excavators, was transported daily through the nearby town of Assosa.
The airport, which is 53 kilometers from the camp, has been undergoing new construction since August 2025.
Satellite imagery shows a new hangar and paved areas near the tarmac known as parking lots, as well as what Wim Zvenenberg, a military technology expert at the Dutch peace organization PAX, described as a ground control station for drones and a satellite antenna.
The drone support infrastructure shown in the images is similar to that of two other drone bases in Ethiopia.
A senior Ethiopian government official and a senior military official said the Ethiopian military planned to turn the airport into a drone operations center, as well as at least five other drone hubs it knew were located across Ethiopia.
The renovation of the airport is part of a broader plan by the Ethiopian military to divert air bases towards the western side of the country to counter potential new threats on the border with Sudan and protect critical infrastructure such as the Renaissance Dam, a diplomatic source said.
Officials from the region expressed concern that the camp in Mingi was close to the mega dam, Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, fearing it could be damaged or targeted if clashes break out in the area, as the new camp is located about 101 kilometers from the dam.
Western military analysts, regional security experts, along with a senior Ethiopian official said construction work at the airport was linked to the increased presence of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the area.
The airport has become an effective tool in supplying the “Rapid Support Forces” across the border in Sudan with supplies.
The senior Ethiopian government official and security analyst said the UAE also paid for the airport’s renovation.
