Sudan accuses UAE of bringing in Colombian mercenaries to support RSF

In a sharp diplomatic escalation, Sudan‘s government on Monday directly accused the United Arab Emirates of intervening in its civil war by hiring Colombian mercenaries to fight on behalf of the paramilitary RSF.

Sudan accused the United Arab Emirates on Monday of hiring Colombian mercenaries to fight against the government-aligned army on behalf of its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Since April 2023, war between the Sudanese army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

It has also drawn widespread accusations of foreign involvement — namely Abu Dhabi’s backing of the RSF.

Sudanese airstrike hits Darfur airport, killing 40 suspected mercenaries - War in Sudan - World - Ahram Online

“The government of Sudan possesses all the documents and evidence proving the involvement of mercenaries from Colombia and some neighbouring countries, sponsored and funded by the UAE,” the foreign ministry said Monday.

The UAE has repeatedly denied allegations of arming the RSF, despite reports to the contrary from UN experts, diplomats, US politicians and international organisations.

Mercenaries have been spotted on both sides, with reports of Colombian fighters first emerging in the western region of Darfur late last year and corroborated by United Nations experts.

This week, the Joint Forces — a coalition of armed groups in Darfur aligned with the army — reported more than 80 Colombian mercenaries fighting on the RSF’s side in the North Darfur state capital El-Fasher.

The coalition said “several Colombian mercenaries involved in drone operations and artillery coordination were killed” in the most recent RSF attempt to seize the city, which it has besieged for over a year.

El-Fasher is the last state capital in Darfur still under control of the army, which on Sunday released video footage it said was of “foreign mercenaries believed to be from Colombia”.

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AFP was not immediately able to verify the videos.

The ministry said on Monday that it had previously submitted evidence of the foreign fighters’ involvement to the UN Security Council, adding their presence was making the conflict a “cross-border terrorist war waged by proxy”.

A report this year from UN experts monitoring an ongoing arms embargo on Darfur called the accusations of Colombian mercenaries fighting for the RSF credible.

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Sudan said in December that the Colombian foreign ministry had extended its regret “for the participation of some of its citizens in the war”, according to Sudan’s state news agency.

Retired Colombian soldiers and ex-guerrillas — hardened by more than half a century of conflict back home — have turned up in recent years in conflicts in Ukraine, Haiti and Afghanistan.

They have previously been recruited by the UAE to fight Huthi rebels in Yemen and to guard oil pipelines in the wealthy Gulf state, according to AFP reporting.

https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2025/08/04/sudan-accuses-uae-of-bringing-in-colombian-mercenaries-to-support-rsf

This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)

A Sudanese airstrike hit an airport in the country’s Darfur region controlled by a notorious paramilitary group, destroying a suspected Emirati military aircraft and killing dozens of suspected mercenaries, Sudanese officials and a rebel adviser said Thursday.

Wednesday’s strike on the Nyala airport killed at least 40 suspected mercenaries from Colombia and destroyed a shipment of arms and equipment that were sent by the United Arab Emirates to the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, according to two Sudanese military officials and an adviser to a Darfur rebel leader allied with RSF.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media. The adviser also requested anonymity for his safety.

Sudan plunged into chaos when simmering tensions between the military and RSF exploded into fighting in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The fighting has turned into a full-fledged civil war that killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 14 million people and pushed parts of the country into famine. The war has been marked by atrocities, including mass killings and rape in what is being investigated as war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

‘New equation of deterrence’

State-run Sudan TV reported the aircraft had taken off from a military base in the Arab Gulf region, and that Sudanese fighter jets struck it when it landed at the Nyala airport. It described the strike as a “blatant message” and a “new equation of deterrence” against foreign interference in Sudan’s affairs.

In an emailed response to The Associated Press, the UAE’s Foreign Ministry denied the accusations as “unfounded allegations” that “lack any evidentiary basis.” It said the allegations were part of Sudan’s government’s “ongoing campaign of disinformation and deflection.”

There was no immediate comment from RSF.

Responding to the reports, Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on X overnight that he ordered an investigation into the mercenaries’ killing.

RSF seized Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, last year as part of the paramilitary group’s push to control the entire region of Darfur. The Sudanese government has accused RSF of turning the city’s civilian airport into a military hub to receive weapons shipments and smuggle gold.

The Sudanese military has repeatedly struck the airport, saying it targeted aircraft delivering military supplies and mercenaries to RSF.

U.N. experts confirmed in a report released in April that Colombian mercenaries were present in Darfur and that those mercenaries were hired by a private security firm to support RSF.

According to the report, the Colombian Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Colombian mercenaries were in Darfur and announced the establishment of a special immediate response group to ensure the safe return of its nationals.

UAE bars Sudanese planes

The Sudanese aviation agency, meanwhile, said that the UAE barred Sudanese planes on Wednesday from landing at its airports, in what it called a “surprise, uncoordinated” measure.

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The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that a Sudanese airliner was also barred from taking off at the Abu Dhabi airport, according to a report by the state-run SUNA news agency.

Relations between the military-allied government in Sudan and the UAE have been frayed over Abu Dhabi’s alleged support to RSF. The Sudanese government severed ties with the UAE earlier this year over the allegations.

RSF besieges el-Fasher

In other war developments, satellite imagery analyzed by the U.S.-based Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab, or HRL, showed that RSF has imposed a total blockade on el-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur that was still under the military’s control.

HRL said in a report Wednesday that “there is no route of the city that RSF doesn’t control,” and that civilians attempting to get out need to pass through a 50-meter-wide (50-yard-wide) RSF control point.

RSF has been attempting to take over el-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur province, for more than a year to complete its control of Darfur’s five provinces.

The paramilitarie Sudan Nashra: Military moves warplanes to Eritrea, strikes Nyala, opens new front in North Kordofan | UAE engages Sudan via Cairo, Addis Ababa | Hemedti renews accusations against Egypt, threatens to strike s have repeatedly attacked the city. HRL said that it had documented the bombardment by RSF of two markets, three schools and two mosques in the city since June.

Earlier this year, RSF conquered the sprawling Zamzam displacement camp on the city’s outskirts, killing hundreds of people and forcing the camp’s population to flee.

By Samy Magdy

Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses.

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