By Ahmed Abdelwahid

Videos of Pakistani-built armoured vehicles moving through Khartoum circulated on Sudanese social media in late July, prompting concerns among Baloch groups that revenue from a reported $1.5 billion arms deal between Islamabad and Khartoum could provide additional funding for Pakistan’s security operations in Balochistan.

Sudanese and Indian outlets identified the vehicles as Mohafiz personnel carriers, built by Pakistan’s state-owned Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), providing evidence of Pakistani-made equipment in the hands of Sudanese army forces.

News18 reported that the armoured vehicles appeared during a Sudanese army military parade, marking their first reported public sighting in Sudan. Neither Khartoum nor Islamabad has officially confirmed their arrival or disclosed how they were obtained.
HIT developed the Mohafiz in the early 2000s for police and paramilitary operations, with protection against rifle fire.

The footage emerged months after Reuters reported that Pakistan was close to a $1.5 billion deal to supply Sudan with 10 K-8 Karakorum light attack aircraft, more than 200 drones and air-defence systems.

In February, Sudanese outlet Ayin reported that Saudi Arabia was financing the package following a December meeting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Two months later, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia had withdrawn its financing and asked Pakistan to terminate the agreement. Security sources linked the decision to a March meeting in Riyadh with Sudanese commanders. Neither government has confirmed the deal or its suspension.

Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair had warned of the arrangement’s fragility. She said Saudi conditions would require greater army oversight of the roughly 17 militias fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while the SAF would be reluctant to give up Iran as a bargaining chip with Western governments.
“Saudi Arabia may be able to provide financial backing for a one-time $1.5 billion deal, but not sustained, long-term military financing,” she said.

The vehicles could therefore have arrived before the reported suspension or through a smaller, separately financed transfer. The $1.5 billion figure remains a proposed package rather than a confirmed contract.

News18, citing Indian intelligence sources, reported that the potential package could also include Shahpar-2 armed drones, Yaya-3 loitering munitions and K-8 Karakorum aircraft, alongside Chinese-origin air-defence systems.
India watches the Red Sea

The News18 report adds an Indian strategic dimension, citing intelligence sources who expressed concern that Pakistani military equipment, including platforms incorporating Chinese technology, could expand Pakistan’s footprint around the Red Sea and near India’s maritime routes in the Indian Ocean.

The sources also said that using platforms such as the Shahpar-2 and Yaya-3 in an active conflict could provide Pakistan with battlefield data for future weapons development. They warned that transferring surveillance systems, loitering munitions and armoured vehicles into an active war zone could increase the risk of diversion, technology leakage and the eventual transfer of equipment to armed groups or proxy networks.

According to the same sources, financing defence exports through regional third parties could also generate foreign-currency revenue for Pakistan’s defence industry outside conventional international financial oversight.
Baloch groups call for investigation.
The Baloch Peoples Congress, together with allied Pashtun and Sindhi organisations, on 7 August called for an international investigation. The group argued that further arms supplies would deepen Sudan’s war and that revenue from such exports could strengthen Pakistan’s military at home.

Balochistan has faced a long-running insurgency alongside protests over enforced disappearances, alleged abuses by security forces and demands for greater political and economic rights. Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch has raised concerns over reported disappearances,

extrajudicial killings, excessive force against protesters and restrictions on Baloch activists, and has called for accountability.