Sudan: UAE-linked Colombian mercenaries operating amid genocide

Colombian mercenaries are being hired, trained and moved into Sudan by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a new report warns.

The east African nation is locked into a civil war between the Sudanese government and the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported this week:

Colombian private military contractors, apparently hired by a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company, transited through UAE military bases before being deployed to Sudan to support the abusive Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

This is further evidence indicating that the UAE is assisting or otherwise substantially contributing to the Rapid Support Forces’ capacity to commit war crimes.

More information can be found in HRW’s From Bogotá to El Fasher report.

Sudan war began in April 2023

The three-year war has killed thousands and displaced millions. The RSF, backed by the UAE, is fighting the Sudanese government, with gold interests and regional influence at stake.

Numerous foreign actors, including the UK, have caused the war to fester through active participation and/or outright passivity. Israel, too, is a major player in the war.

The war in Sudan is theoretically between the Arab-majority RSF and the Sudanese government. But foreign states pursuing their own interests are backing the combatants.

Egypt backs the government, alongside Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Israel has backed both sides at different times.

The RSF has killed Sudanese civilians in vast numbers. Some estimates say 150,000 people have died and more than 10 million civilians have been displaced by fighting.

British links to Colombian mercs?

Britain is the former colonial power in Sudan and there are reports it is still enabling the violence today. The Guardian revealed “connections between the mercenaries hired to overrun El Fasher and addresses in the UK capital” last December.

The investigation stated Zeuz Global, a business registered at a Tottenham flat, was “set up by two individuals named and sanctioned last week by the US treasury for hiring Colombian mercenaries to fight for the RSF”.

Journalists added:

The firm is active. The day after the US treasury announced sanctions on those behind the Colombian mercenary operation – 9 December – Zeuz Global abruptly moved its operation to the very heart of London. On 10 December the firm shared “new address details”. Its new postcode matches One Aldwych, a five-star hotel in Covent Garden.

Now, new evidence uncovered by HRW links the Colombian mercenary operation to the UAE too.

Evidence collected by Human Rights Watch indicates that, since 2024, an Abu Dhabi-based security company–which is licensed to work for the Emirati government and has links to the ruling family and senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials–has appeared to hire Colombian private military contractors (PMCs) who were deployed to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF.

A witness to the RSF’s October 2025 massacre in the southern Sudanese city of El Fasher told HRW:

…those doing the killing were Arab Sudanese, but standing next to them were white people, who she said were shorter than the Sudanese fighters, and, unlike them, wore fatigues and helmets.

“They had sniper rifles…small weapons with silencers…They were wearing something around their chest, short sleeves, and insignia.”

The report claims that the “white uniformed fighters” the female witness described “were most likely Colombian PMCs, who stood by while RSF fighters killed men and women, including people with disabilities”.

The UK has substantial links to the UAE, including Manchester City football club. The Gulf state is a major buyer of British arms. Furthermore, a recent report even suggested that the UK downplayed and downgraded the genocide in Sudan in order to avoid “pissing off” the Emiratis.

The UK appears complicit in not one but two active genocides, in Sudan as well as Gaza. Sudan is a criminally under-reported war. This suggests an absolute disregard for African lives who recall the most vicious days of the empire.

Featured image via UNHCR