Sudanese Minister Accuses Juba of Allowing UAE to Establish ‘Aggression Base’

Sudanese Minerals Minister Mohamed Bashir Abu Namo has accused South Sudan of giving permission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish an ‘aggression base’ under the cover of a field hospital in the Aweil East County.

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Shakhbut bin Zayid Al Nahyan, opened on Friday a field hospital in the Aweil East County, near the Sudanese border.

In a Facebook post, Abu Namo questioned the UAE’s motives for building the hospital in the border area, pointing to a similar facility in Chad that was allegedly used to treat militia fighters and store weapons. “The main undeclared goal is to provide the militia with military equipment under the cover of the UAE Red Crescent operations,” Abu Namo said, accusing the UAE of interfering in Sudan’s internal affairs and participating with the militia in the aggression against the country.

The minister accused South Sudan of ignoring the recruitment of its nationals to fight alongside the militia and facilitating the smuggling of Sudanese gold to the UAE through its airports, praising Colombia’s efforts to prevent its citizens from fighting in Sudan.

The minister warned that allowing the UAE to establish an “aggression base” in South Sudan would lead to “igniting new fires” on the common border.