A network of Colombian mercenaries backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided critical support to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enabling it to capture the western city of el-Fasher last year, a new report says. The investigation, by security analysis organization the Conflict Insights Group (CIG), used data obtained from tracking the mobile phones of the Colombian fighters.
The UAE has long denied supporting the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan's regular army for three years. El-Fasher's fall was one of the most brutal chapters of the conflict, which has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis with tens of thousands killed and millions forced from their homes.
The CIG has been closely following evidence of extensive Emirati military assistance to the RSF, but this is the first research where we can prove UAE involvement with certainty, says director Justin Lynch. We are making public what governments have long known - that there is a direct link between Abu Dhabi and the RSF.
The report shows mercenaries involved with drones travelling from a UAE base to Sudan before the RSF takeover of el-Fasher. It states that mercenaries involved in drone operations even named their Wi-Fi network their unit name - linked to a company operated out of the UAE. Colombian President Gustavo Petro was quoted last year as calling the mercenaries spectres of death and describing their recruitment as a form of human trafficking.
The BBC has asked for a response from the Emirati government to the latest findings. The UAE has previously issued statements rejecting what it called false and unfounded allegations that it backs the RSF and condemning in the strongest terms the atrocities committed in el-Fasher.
Analysts agree that foreign support for both sides has been key to the continuation and expansion of the civil war. The report shows mercenaries involved with drones travelling from a UAE base to Sudan before the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, Lynch says.
The CIG used commercially available technology designed to make advertising more personal to track more than 50 mobile phones in Sudan between April 2025 and January this year whose operators were Colombian mercenaries. It also used flight-tracking data, satellite imagery, social media videos, news, and academic articles to support its analysis.
The report details a pipeline that showed the mercenaries present at various regional staging grounds, most significantly a UAE military training facility in Ghayathi in Abu Dhabi. The investigation tracked one phone from Colombia to Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport and then to the facility, where it found other devices configured to Spanish, which is spoken in Colombia.
Reports indicate that Nyala is a prominent hub for Colombian mercenaries and RSF drone operations. The fall of el-Fasher was accompanied by mass atrocities assessed as war crimes and crimes against humanity by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and described by UN investigators as bearing the hallmarks of genocide. The report concludes that the UAE-Colombian mercenary network bears shared responsibility for these outcomes.
The UAE has long denied supporting the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan's regular army for three years. El-Fasher's fall was one of the most brutal chapters of the conflict, which has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis with tens of thousands killed and millions forced from their homes.
The CIG has been closely following evidence of extensive Emirati military assistance to the RSF, but this is the first research where we can prove UAE involvement with certainty, says director Justin Lynch. We are making public what governments have long known - that there is a direct link between Abu Dhabi and the RSF.
The report shows mercenaries involved with drones travelling from a UAE base to Sudan before the RSF takeover of el-Fasher. It states that mercenaries involved in drone operations even named their Wi-Fi network their unit name - linked to a company operated out of the UAE. Colombian President Gustavo Petro was quoted last year as calling the mercenaries spectres of death and describing their recruitment as a form of human trafficking.
The BBC has asked for a response from the Emirati government to the latest findings. The UAE has previously issued statements rejecting what it called false and unfounded allegations that it backs the RSF and condemning in the strongest terms the atrocities committed in el-Fasher.
Analysts agree that foreign support for both sides has been key to the continuation and expansion of the civil war. The report shows mercenaries involved with drones travelling from a UAE base to Sudan before the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, Lynch says.
The CIG used commercially available technology designed to make advertising more personal to track more than 50 mobile phones in Sudan between April 2025 and January this year whose operators were Colombian mercenaries. It also used flight-tracking data, satellite imagery, social media videos, news, and academic articles to support its analysis.
The report details a pipeline that showed the mercenaries present at various regional staging grounds, most significantly a UAE military training facility in Ghayathi in Abu Dhabi. The investigation tracked one phone from Colombia to Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport and then to the facility, where it found other devices configured to Spanish, which is spoken in Colombia.
Reports indicate that Nyala is a prominent hub for Colombian mercenaries and RSF drone operations. The fall of el-Fasher was accompanied by mass atrocities assessed as war crimes and crimes against humanity by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and described by UN investigators as bearing the hallmarks of genocide. The report concludes that the UAE-Colombian mercenary network bears shared responsibility for these outcomes.
