The tent camp is massive and will be able to house thousands of people.
But so far no one wants to say who built it or who is staying in the camp.
Satellite images taken in recent months show extensive construction in the forest outside the small town of Menge, in western Ethiopia.
According to Reuters there is talk of a brand new training camp for soldiers from the rebel group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The new military camp is a clear sign that the brutal war in Sudan is about to escalate, believe experts NRK has spoken to.
The military camp will be able to house thousands of soldiers, according to Reuters.
Photo: ©2026 Vantor / Reuters / NTB
– Now the glass is half empty
– Usually I am an optimistic person, but now the glass is half empty, says Africa expert Munzoul Assal at the Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI) to NRK.
The RSF camp in Ethiopia shows that countries around Sudan are now taking an active part in the war, he explains.
– Before, the war was limited to Western Sudan. Now a new front has opened up.
– This makes everything much more complicated and will only cause more suffering for the population, asserts Assal.
The war in Sudan has divided the country in two between the warring parties. RSF in yellow; Sudanese government forces in red.
Trucks from the Emirates
Over 4,000 RSF soldiers were in the camp in January, according to Reuters. Most will be local Ethiopians.
According to the news agency, it is the United Arab Emirates that has financed parts of the construction. The Emirates are known for supporting the RSF’s brutal warfare in Sudan with, among other things, weapons.
Hundreds of trucks with soldiers have driven through the area in recent months. Some trucks had logos associated with the Emirates, according to Reuters.
The Emirates tell the news agency that they are “in no way” involved in the war.
Hundreds of military trucks have driven through the area in recent months. Some with logos associated with the Emirates, according to Reuters.
Photo: ©2026 Vantor / Reuters / NTB
A network of alliances
A vast and complicated network of rival alliances is emerging in East Africa.
So says researcher Stig Jarle Hansen at the Norwegian University of Environmental and Biosciences (NMBU).
- On one side are Ethiopia and the Emirates. They support the rebel group RSF
- On the other is a newer alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. They support Sudan’s government army
This is what you need to know about the war in Sudan
Who is fighting each other? There has been a civil war in Sudan since 2023. There, primarily two forces are fighting each other:
- The Sudanese Army, known as the SAF
- Rapid Support Forces, known as RSF
The two forces worked together for several years. But they fell out with each other in 2023 due to pressure to merge. Since then, they have fought each other to gain control of Sudan.
RSF receives support from, among others, the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates make big money supporting the militia with foreign fighters and weapons, in exchange for access to Sudan’s gold.
What are they fighting about? Both the government army and the RSF control large resources that they are unwilling to give up, including gold.
The RSF controls large parts of Western Sudan, including the Darfur region. In October 2025, the RSF took control of the large city of Al-Fashir, after an 18-month siege.
The SAF controls many areas in the east, including most of the capital Khartoum.
What consequences has the war had? The conflict is called “the world’s greatest hunger disaster”. 24.6 million people suffer from acute food shortages, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
At least 12 million people have fled their homes. In May, the UN estimated that 150,000 people have probably been killed, while several believe the real death toll is even higher.
The conflict is complicated and has roots back to the civil war that raged from 1983 to 2005.
Both the RSF and the government army SAF have committed abuses against the civilian population. RSF is being investigated by the International Criminal Court for possible genocide after a series of abuses in 2005 and autumn 2025.
Military bases have also started to appear in several other neighboring countries.
In Egypt, the authorities have built a larger airport in the south of the country. From there, Turkish-made drones attack the RSF in Sudan, reports The New York Times newspaper.
And in Chad, which lies west of Sudan, there are reports that the RSF has built bases, says Munzoul Assal. It has not been confirmed so far.
Egypt has built an airport in the desert in the south of the country. Drones fly from here to attack the RSF in Sudan. The dark circles are fields.
Photo: VANTOR / Reuters / NTB
Everyone has interests they want to look after, says Hansen at NMBU.
On the one hand, this is about Sudan’s enormous amounts of gold and oil, he explains. But for Ethiopia it is about one more thing: access to the sea.
The neighboring country of Eritrea stands in the way. The two countries have had a long-standing political – and at times armed – conflict.
Soldiers from Eritrea are said to have now received training from the Sudanese authorities, according to Munzoul Assal.
Ethiopia may therefore want to support the rebels in the RSF in order to weaken Eritrea, he believes.
– This is geopolitics at a high level. Sudan will be the battleground for this rivalry, emphasizes Stig Jarle Hansen.
– But why does RSF need a base inside Ethiopia?
– RSF has been on the defensive recently. This gives the RSF bases outside of the places where the Sudanese authorities can attack them. It helps secure the rebel group’s supply lines.
He calls what is now happening in the area a “powder keg” that is about to explode.
An enormous and complicated network of rival alliances is growing in East Africa, says researcher Stig Jarle Hansen.
Photo: Marit Kolberg / NRK
Consequences for the whole of Africa
The RSF camp is said to have been built during autumn 2025, satellite images show.
The nearby airport has also been significantly expanded in the past year, the photos show. The airport has, among other things, received a new hangar and satellite equipment to operate drones, according to Reuters.
NRK has not been able to verify who is actually staying at the base in Ethiopia.
But Reuters has spoken to several people in the Ethiopian authorities. They claim that the soldiers at the base are RSF fighters.
Turkish-made drones are ready at the airport in Egypt. The country is said to have invested a lot to help the Sudanese government, according to the New York Times newspaper.
Photo: VANTOR / Reuters / NTB
Also a document written by Ethiopian security forces says the soldiers are from the RSF, according to Reuters.
Neither RSF, the Sudanese authorities nor the Ethiopian authorities have responded to inquiries from Reuters.
This has consequences for the whole of Africa, believes Munzoul Assal at CMI.
He fears that the war in Sudan could now spread to neighboring countries. It is a conflict that has so far killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions from their homes.
– What does this mean for Sudan going forward?
That means two things, he asserts.
– The war will not end for a while. And we can even see Sudan split in two.
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Published
13.02.2026, kl. 21.28
date:2026-02-13 20:28:00