Complicit Dossier

Command, allied forces and mobilisation · militias · Sudan / Eritrea

Eastern Sudan armed groups trained in Eritrea

  • Allied force or mobilisation network
  • Grade B: CorroboratedStrongest record: corroborated
  • 1 documented tie · 2 steps from the SAF

Also recorded as: Eritrean-trained eastern Sudanese militias (e.g. Eastern Cohort); Eastern Sudan militias; Gash-Barka camps; Eastern Sudan armed groups trained and supplied in Eritrea (umbrella entry)

Foreign sponsor: STATE OF ERITREA. Dabanga (Jan 2024): six training camps in Gash-Barka for eastern Sudanese groups. STPT (Aug 2025), quoting an interviewee: Eritrea 'provides training, weapons, vehicles, and logistical support to these movements, which were created by SAF, but supplied by Eritrea at the SAF's behest'; a Kassala activist: 'There is full coordination between the SAF and the Eritrean intelligence in this regard'. STPT table of SAF-allied eastern militias: (1) Eastern Orta - military wing of the Popular United Front for Liberation and Justice, led by Al-Amin Daoud (mostly Beni Amer, formed 2023); (2) East Sudan Liberation Forces, led by Ibrahim/Abdalla Dunya (Beni Amer, Dec 2023); (3) Beja Congress-Armed Struggle, led by Musa Mohamed Ahmed (Hadendowa, 1994); (4) Beja Congress, led by Omer Mohammed Tahir (2006); (5) Alliance of Political Parties and Movements of East Sudan's Forces, led by Shaiba Dirar (Red Sea, 2021); (6) National Movement for Justice and Development in East Sudan, led by Mohamed Tahir Suliman Ali Bitai (June 2024); (7) Youth for Change and Justice Movement Forces, led by Khalid Tahlith Abbaakr (2024); (10) mustanfareen; (11) SLM-Minnawi. Two rival alliances formed in 2025: a BC/ESLM/NMJD joint force launched at Gargar on the Eritrean border (May 2025) and the 'Joint Forces of Eastern Sudan Movements' (BC Unified Command under Mohamed Tahir Ogdaf, Eastern Orta, and Popular Resistance under Nazir Terik; June 2025), the latter 'closer to the SAF than to the Eritrean regime'.

Their response

  • Nazir Terik (Beja nazir) (SUNA, July 2024, cited by STPT): 'Eritrea is a sister country and Sudan will not be attacked by it'. Musa Mohamed Ahmed said his group had asked since Sept 2024 to deploy inside Sudan 'in coordination with the SAF while maintaining their camps inside Eritrea, but the SAF has not responded yet'. Beja Nazirs' council official called the Eastern Cohort a 'foreign force' and opposed deployment.

Records

2

Each record carries its own grade. A grade describes the source for that record, not the actor.

Grade B: Corroborated

Eastern Sudan armed groups trained and supplied in Eritrea (umbrella entry)

2023-2026

Foreign sponsor: STATE OF ERITREA. Dabanga (Jan 2024): six training camps in Gash-Barka for eastern Sudanese groups. STPT (Aug 2025), quoting an interviewee: Eritrea 'provides training, weapons, vehicles, and logistical support to these movements, which were created by SAF, but supplied by Eritrea at the SAF's behest'; a Kassala activist: 'There is full coordination between the SAF and the Eritrean intelligence in this regard'. STPT table of SAF-allied eastern militias: (1) Eastern Orta - military wing of the Popular United Front for Liberation and Justice, led by Al-Amin Daoud (mostly Beni Amer, formed 2023); (2) East Sudan Liberation Forces, led by Ibrahim/Abdalla Dunya (Beni Amer, Dec 2023); (3) Beja Congress-Armed Struggle, led by Musa Mohamed Ahmed (Hadendowa, 1994); (4) Beja Congress, led by Omer Mohammed Tahir (2006); (5) Alliance of Political Parties and Movements of East Sudan's Forces, led by Shaiba Dirar (Red Sea, 2021); (6) National Movement for Justice and Development in East Sudan, led by Mohamed Tahir Suliman Ali Bitai (June 2024); (7) Youth for Change and Justice Movement Forces, led by Khalid Tahlith Abbaakr (2024); (10) mustanfareen; (11) SLM-Minnawi. Two rival alliances formed in 2025: a BC/ESLM/NMJD joint force launched at Gargar on the Eritrean border (May 2025) and the 'Joint Forces of Eastern Sudan Movements' (BC Unified Command under Mohamed Tahir Ogdaf, Eastern Orta, and Popular Resistance under Nazir Terik; June 2025), the latter 'closer to the SAF than to the Eritrean regime'.

Response
Nazir Terik (Beja nazir) (SUNA, July 2024, cited by STPT): 'Eritrea is a sister country and Sudan will not be attacked by it'. Musa Mohamed Ahmed said his group had asked since Sept 2024 to deploy inside Sudan 'in coordination with the SAF while maintaining their camps inside Eritrea, but the SAF has not responded yet'. Beja Nazirs' council official called the Eastern Cohort a 'foreign force' and opposed deployment.
Sanctions
None located for these groups or leaders
  1. 1STPT, Regional and international dimensions of conflicts in eastern Sudan · sudantransparency.org · Aug 2025
  2. 2Radio Dabanga, Eritrea military training camps raise concerns about security in eastern Sudan · dabangasudan.org · 26 Jan 2024
  3. 3Radio Dabanga, 'Sudan-Eritrea military alliance risks igniting tribal conflict' · dabangasudan.org · 29 Nov 2024
  4. 4Sudan Tribune report reproduced by Martin Plaut, Eritrean trained militia deploys to eastern Sudan · martinplaut.com · 1 Nov 2024
  5. 5Africa Defense Forum, Expanding Militias Threaten Security in Eastern Sudan · adf-magazine.com · 7 Jan 2025
  6. 6EUAA COI Sudan Security Situation 2025, 2.6.1 East: actors involved · euaa.europa.eu · Feb 2025
  7. 7Medameek (Arabic), Commander of the Eastern Orta militia: our armament, training and supplies come from Eritrea (as cited in STPT Aug 2025, fn 33; not independently opened) · medameek.com · 5 Jan 2025

NamesEritreaEastern OrtaJoint ForcePopular Resistance

2 more records below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see them.

1 more record at grade C (single source) or D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.

Relationships

2

← means the other party acts on this one; → means this one acts on the other.

Fighting forces · 2

2 more relationships below grade A (corroborated, single-source or unverified). Change “Evidence shown” to see them.

1 more relationship at grade C (single source) or D (unverified lead). Change “Evidence shown” to see it.

Geography

Tags come from the recorded jurisdiction and from place names in the records. Coordinates on the map are approximate.

Based in
Sudan, Eritrea
Places
Kassala, Gash-Barka

Position in the network

Derived by analysing the documented relationships. Nothing in this section is a finding.

Connected to the SAF through official or corroborated records.

›Possible links to investigate · 3