The U.S. labeled Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood and al-Baraa bin Malik Brigade as terrorist groups over Iran ties and war involvement, a move welcomed by the UAE.

On February 24, 2026, the UN Security Council delivered a fresh political and legal blow to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias, placing several of its top commanders under sanctions.

The remote Benishangul-Gumuz region in western Ethiopia has quietly become a strategic UAE-backed base training thousands of fighters for Sudan’s RSF militias, with logistics, equipment, and instructors flowing directly from Abu Dhabi.

Al-Estiklal tracks the cyber war between Egypt and the UAE, revealing the Emirati funding of online committees and how Cairo-Abu Dhabi tensions exposed efforts to sabotage Egypt’s revolution.

Egypt has ramped up military support for the Sudanese army against the RSF, emboldened in large part by Saudi Arabia’s confrontation with what it calls the “Abu Dhabi government militia,” and despite Cairo’s long-standing ties with MBZ.