Musk’s Starlink Used by Sudan Paramilitary Group Amid Internet Blackout
- UN slams internet blackout in Sudan during humanitarian crisis
- Starlink devices have entered country via Chad and South Sudan
An antenna of the Starlink satellite-based broadband system.
Photographer: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is being used by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces amid a nationwide internet blackout that humanitarian agencies say is preventing people from accessing essential help during a brutal 10-month civil war.
The RSF, which is battling Sudan’s army, has had access to Starlink technology since August, according to diplomats and a humanitarian official in the Darfur region, one of whom who has been in contact with the RSF while it used the service. The devices have proliferated since Sudan’s internet went down more than a week ago and are being imported through corridors controlled by the RSF via neighboring Chad and South Sudan, the people said.