UN-Backed Probe Says Foreign Fighters, External Support Are Fueling Sudan's War
A UN-backed fact-finding mission has documented foreign combatants and external supply networks helping drive the fighting in Sudan, including strikes it says may amount to war crimes.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan says foreign fighters and outside support networks are helping fuel the country's civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 12 million since it began in April 2023.
Investigators said around 2,000 former Colombian military contractors have directly operated combat drones, artillery and other advanced weapons alongside RSF units in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, alongside additional fighters from South Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia serving mainly in frontline roles. The mission also identified private recruiters and entities based in Colombia and the United Arab Emirates facilitating personnel, training, weapons and logistics for the RSF through transit points in Chad, Libya and Somalia.
The report said drone capabilities supplied to both sides have enabled strikes far beyond the front lines, pointing to an RSF attack that killed 114 people in Kalogi and a Sudanese army strike that killed at least 70 people in Ad-Da'ein. Investigators said some of the RSF's repeated attacks on populated areas "may amount to war crimes."
Colombia said it opposes mercenary activity and is working to address the involvement of its nationals in the conflict. The UAE rejected the allegations that it has provided military or logistical support to the RSF, while Chad maintained that it has remained neutral in the war.