French Newspaper: Burkina Faso Airline Smuggling Weapons from UAE to RSF Militia

A Le Monde investigation has revealed that a newly registered airline in Burkina Faso operates an airbridge smuggling weapons from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and transports its senior commanders. The report states that “the airline, owned by a Sudanese businessman and registered in Burkina Faso, operates a secret airbridge transporting military equipment from the UAE to the RSF.”

The investigation noted that Batot Air was established and registered in Burkina Faso in August 2024, beginning flights in November 2025, without its fleet of Ilyushin and Antonov aircraft landing at Ouagadougou Airport. Its planes reportedly operate near-daily flights between the UAE and the Horn of Africa, particularly Ethiopia and Chad.

The newspaper reported that Batot Air has conducted at least 36 flights between the UAE and Ethiopia since its founding, deliberately disabling transmitters and receivers over the Red Sea to avoid detection before landing at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa or at the Bishoftu Air Base. This logistics network reportedly supports a recently discovered RSF base in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, funded by the UAE, used to train and arm RSF fighters near Sudan’s Blue Nile state border.

The investigation highlighted major financial discrepancies concerning Batot Air’s assets, noting that the company purchased three Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft in late 2025 for several million euros, despite declaring a registered capital of only €15,000 in Burkina Faso’s national commercial registry.

According to the report, the airline, owned by Sudanese businessman Mohamed Omar Suleiman Idris, is also used to secretly transport RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemeidti”) and his deputy Abdel-Rahim Dagalo, in addition to moving military equipment.