As UAE Recruits Colombian Mercenaries, Sudan Escalates the Matter

New York -Sudanhorizon
Sudan on Friday filed a formal complaint with the UN Security Council, accusing the United Arab Emirates of direct interference in the ongoing war in the country, recruiting, financing, and deploying hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the rebel Rapid Support Forces militias.
In a message addressed to the President of the Security Council, Sudan’s Permanent Representative, ambassador Al-Harith Idris Al-Harith, presented what he described as “compelling and well-documented evidence” of the UAE’s role in prolonging the Sudan conflict. The message emphasized that this interference constitutes a “serious violation for Sudan’s sovereignty” and a “direct threat to peace and security in the region.”
According to the complaint, between 350 and 380 Colombian mercenaries, most of them retired military personnel, were recruited through private security companies based in the UAE. The complaint identified by name the Global Security Services Group (GSSG), headed by Emirati national Mohammed Hamdan Al Zaabi, and the International Services Agency (A4SI), co-founded by retired Colonel Alvaro Quijano, who is believed to operate out of Al Ain, UAE.
Most of the recruits were misled into believing they would work in security positions, only to find themselves fuel for the war in Sudan. Documents provided by Sudan also revealed the complex logistical route taken by the mercenaries, who were flown from the UAE to Somalia, then to Benghazi, Libya, with the assistance of officers loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, before being transported by land through Chad to Sudan.
Sudan claims that between November 2024 and February 2025, chartered Emirati aircraft operated 248 flights to smuggle mercenaries and military equipment into areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces in Nyala, El Fasher, and Hamra el Sheikh.
The complaint accuses the mercenaries of directly participating in frontline battles on several fronts, including Khartoum and Omdurman, as well as the current siege of El Fasher, North Darfur.
The role of the mercenaries included operating drones, artillery, and armored vehicles belonging to the Rapid Support Forces. Their presence has been documented in video footage released by the Sudanese army, which had earlier announced the destruction of an Emirati plane transporting mercenaries to Darfur, killing dozens of them.
Among the most serious accusations contained in the complaint file are the mercenaries’ use of internationally banned weapons and their training of child soldiers. The complaint is based on an 18-page operations order seized, written in Spanish and dated December 1, 2024, which contains explicit instructions for the use of white phosphorus munitions by the “Desert Wolves” battalion in El Fasher.
International humanitarian law prohibits the use of these inflammable weapons in civilian areas. The document also included photographs showing mercenaries training children as young as 10 to 12 years old.
The Sudanese government asserted that the mercenaries’ activities resulted in “serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law,” documenting the killing of 73 civilians at their hands between January 22 and February 11, 2025.
The accusations did not stop there, however, as they included the UAE’s exploitation of its logistical networks to smuggle Sudan’s natural resources, particularly gold and gum Arabic.
The complaint indicated that the mercenary recruitment issue received widespread media coverage in Colombia and was publicly condemned by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who himself confirmed the deaths of at least 40 Colombian mercenaries in Sudan.
This situation prompted the Colombian government to make an official apology to Sudan and to issue warnings to its citizens against involvement in foreign conflicts.
For his part, the Sudanese Prime Minister made an impassioned appeal in Spanish to halt the recruitment operations. At the end of its message, which described the UAE as “the diabolical architect of Sudan’s tragedy and the mastermind of its war machine,” Sudan called on the Security Council to open an immediate investigation into these allegations, hold all responsible parties accountable, and designate the Rapid Support Forces as a terrorist group.
It also requested that the letter and its attachments be circulated as an official Security Council document to ensure the Council is fully informed of the full scope of the foreign role in fueling the conflict.

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