Confirmed RSF Training Camp in Ethiopia Deepens Regional Involvement in Sudan’s Civil War

By David Yeh

Addis Ababa / Khartoum – Ethiopia is hosting a confirmed military training camp for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near its border with Sudan, a development that marks a major escalation in the regionalization of Sudan’s civil war and provides the clearest evidence to date of Ethiopia’s direct involvement in the conflict.

The camp, established in a remote border area, is training thousands of RSF fighters and functions as a logistical and operational rear base for the paramilitary group as fighting intensifies across Sudan. Multiple senior officials, security sources, and internal government documents confirm the facility’s existence, its purpose, and the external support behind it.

The United Arab Emirates financed the construction of the camp and is providing military trainers, equipment, and logistical assistance. This support is documented in Ethiopian security service assessments and diplomatic correspondence, and corroborated by officials with direct knowledge of the operation.

A Strategic Shift by Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s decision to host an RSF training facility represents a decisive shift from diplomatic engagement to active military facilitation. While Addis Ababa has previously positioned itself as a mediator and host of peace initiatives for Sudan, the presence of an RSF training camp on Ethiopian soil places the country firmly within the conflict’s operational landscape.

Security experts say the camp significantly enhances the RSF’s ability to sustain long-term warfare. Fighters trained at the facility are reportedly transported across the border in organized rotations, reinforcing RSF units operating in southern and southeastern Sudan.

“This is not symbolic support,” said a regional security analyst. “It is structured, sustained, and designed to keep the RSF fighting indefinitely.”

Strengthening a Force Accused of Genocide

The RSF has been fighting Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, after both groups former allies who jointly carried out the 2021 coup turned on each other. In 2025, the RSF declared a parallel authority, the so – called Government of Peace and Unity, in territory under its control, a move condemned by Sudanese civil groups and international bodies.

The RSF’s roots lie in the Janjaweed militias responsible for mass atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s. Since the current war began, the group has been widely accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Genocide Watch, and the United States government.

Documented crimes attributed to RSF forces include:
° Mass killings and ethnic cleansing of non-Arab communities in Darfur
° Systematic sexual violence, including gang rape and forced marriages
° Forced recruitment of civilians and children
° Deliberate starvation and obstruction of humanitarian aid
° Widespread looting and destruction of homes, hospitals, churches, and mosques

In January 2025, the United States formally accused the RSF of committing genocide and imposed sanctions on its leadership and affiliated companies.

UAE Financing and Regional Supply Networks

The UAE’s role in backing the RSF has been documented across multiple theaters of the war. Emirati support has included financing, arms procurement, mercenary recruitment, medical evacuation, and logistical coordination, often routed through third countries such as Chad and Libya.

The Ethiopian training camp represents a significant evolution in that support structure, providing the RSF with an organized training pipeline outside Sudan’s borders. Analysts say this arrangement reduces battlefield pressure on RSF held territory while allowing the group to regenerate forces more efficiently.

Gold revenues from RSF – controlled mines continue to finance operations, with large volumes exported through international markets. Investigations have linked these revenues to corporate networks tied to RSF leadership and foreign intermediaries.

Scale of Foreign Military Support

The RSF training camp in Ethiopia is operating at a significant scale. Ethiopian security service records confirm that approximately 4,300 RSF fighters are currently undergoing training at the facility. Internal assessments indicate the camp has been designed to accommodate up to 10,000 fighters at full capacity, allowing the RSF to rotate units, replenish battlefield losses, and sustain long-term operations inside Sudan.

Training reportedly includes infantry tactics, urban combat, weapons handling, communications, and unit coordination. Fighters trained at the camp are transferred in organized batches across the border into Sudan, reinforcing RSF positions on active fronts.

The training program is underwritten by substantial foreign military support. The United Arab Emirates is providing the RSF with weapons, ammunition, vehicles, communications equipment, and logistical supplies, according to multiple security and diplomatic sources. While precise inventories are not publicly disclosed, independent assessments estimate that UAE-backed military assistance to the RSF since the start of the war amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in armaments and operational support.

This support includes sustained resupply chains that have enabled the RSF to field armored vehicles, heavy weapons, drones, and large quantities of small arms and ammunition, even as international arms embargoes nominally remain in force. Analysts note that the existence of an external training base dramatically increases the effectiveness of this material support by ensuring a continuous flow of trained personnel to deploy it.

Together, the Ethiopian training infrastructure and UAE provided armaments represent a coordinated system designed not merely to assist the RSF tactically, but to ensure its long-term military viability despite battlefield losses, international condemnation, and mounting evidence of mass atrocities.

Ethiopia’s Calculations and Regional Tensions

Ethiopia’s involvement is unfolding against the backdrop of its strained relationship with Egypt, particularly over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Sudan’s internal fragmentation has reshaped regional alliances, and Ethiopia’s engagement with the RSF aligns it with actors seeking to counter Egyptian influence.

Hosting an RSF training camp exposes Ethiopia to severe diplomatic and security risks. The RSF’s record of atrocities has made it one of the most internationally condemned armed groups in the world, and association with it could damage Ethiopia’s standing across Africa and beyond.

There are also fears of blowback. Sudan’s war has already displaced millions into neighboring countries, including South Sudan, Eritrea, and the cross – border movement of armed fighters raises the risk of instability spreading further into the Horn of Africa.

A Proxy War in Plain Sight

The confirmed training camp underscores how Sudan’s war has evolved into a regional proxy conflict. Foreign governments, private military contractors, and mercenary networks now play a central role in sustaining the fighting.

RSF forces have drawn fighters from Chad, Libya, and as far afield as Latin America, while arms and ammunition traced to multiple countries have surfaced on Sudan’s battlefields. Each layer of external involvement deepens the war and weakens prospects for a negotiated settlement.

Humanitarian Catastrophe Intensifies

Sudan’s conflict has produced one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Millions have been displaced, famine conditions are spreading, and entire regions have been devastated.

The RSF’s capture of El Fasher in late 2025, after an extended siege, illustrated the consequences of unchecked military expansion. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed, hospitals were systematically targeted, and mass graves were later identified through satellite imagery and field reports.

Humanitarian agencies warn that continued external military support, especially structured training programs will prolong mass violence and accelerate Sudan’s collapse.

Accountability Still Absent

Despite overwhelming documentation of atrocities and now confirmed foreign facilitation, international accountability remains almost nonexistent. Arms embargoes are poorly enforced, sanctions unevenly applied, and diplomatic efforts fragmented.

Observers argue that allowing a force accused of genocide to maintain foreign training facilities sets a dangerous precedent and signals tolerance for mass violence as a tool of political power.

A Defining Moment

The confirmed existence of an RSF training camp in Ethiopia marks a defining moment in Sudan’s war. What began as an internal struggle has become a transnational conflict sustained by regional alliances and external military infrastructure.

As Sudan fragments further and civilian suffering deepens, pressure is mounting on regional governments and international institutions to confront not only the perpetrators of atrocities, but also the networks that enable them.

To conclude: The confirmed presence of a Rapid Support Forces training camp on Ethiopian soil represents a decisive and troubling escalation in Sudan’s civil war. It demonstrates that the conflict has moved beyond Sudan’s borders and is now sustained by external infrastructure, financing, and political calculations that prioritize strategic leverage over civilian protection. By enabling the training and regeneration of a force widely accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, regional actors have materially extended the lifespan and brutality of the war.

This development fundamentally undermines claims of neutrality and mediation, erodes regional stability in the Horn of Africa, and weakens international efforts to pursue a negotiated settlement. It also reinforces a dangerous precedent in which armed groups accused of mass atrocities are granted safe rear bases and external support, despite overwhelming evidence of systematic violence against civilians.

Without urgent international scrutiny, accountability measures, and coordinated pressure on states facilitating the conflict, Sudan risks permanent fragmentation and prolonged mass suffering. The existence of the RSF training camp in Ethiopia is not merely a regional security concern, it is a test of whether international norms against atrocity crimes retain any meaningful force in practice.