Khartoum: Sudan, through its Permanent Mission to the United Nations, has filed a new complaint supported with evidence to the Security Council regarding the direct involvement of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ongoing war in Sudan, including its role in recruiting Colombian mercenaries and deploying them to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.
According to Sudan News Agency, in a letter addressed to Mr. Kim Sangjin, President of the Security Council, Sudan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador El-Harith Idriss, stated that this intervention has prolonged the war, destroyed vital infrastructure, and inflicted suffering on civilians. He emphasized that the UAE's actions constitute a violation of Sudan's sovereignty, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and Security Council resolutions 1591 (2005) and 2736 (2024). Idriss warned that it poses a threat to regional peace and security.
The Ambassador highlighted that the Sudanese Government had gathered extensive evidence showing the recruitment of 350 to 380 Colombian mercenaries, mostly retired soldiers and officers from the Colombian army, through UAE-based private security companies. These companies include the Global Security Services Group (GSSG), chaired by Emirati national Mohammed Hamdan Al-Zaabi, and the Agency for International Services (A4SI), co-founded by retired Colombian Colonel Alvaro Quijano. The mercenaries were ostensibly contracted for 'security and protection services' but were actually transferred to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF under the 'Desert Wolves' formation.
The evidence indicates that the mercenaries were transported from the UAE to Bosaso (Somalia) and then to Benghazi (Libya), supervised by officers loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, before being moved overland through Chad into Sudan.
The document revealed that between November 2024 and February 2025, 248 flights totaling 15,268 flight hours were chartered from the UAE to smuggle mercenaries, weapons, and military equipment into Sudan, particularly to Nyala, El-Fashir, and Hamrat El-Sheikh. The first group of 172 Colombian mercenaries arrived in El-Fashir in November 2024, with subsequent deployments. Their presence was mainly in Darfur, where they took part in assaults on El-Fashir and in other operations across Sudan, including Khartoum, Omdurman, Al-Jazira, White Nile, Sennar, Blue Nile, Kordofan, and Darfur.
The Sudanese envoy detailed violations committed by the mercenaries, including extrajudicial killings, recruitment of child soldiers, use of prohibited weapons, and looting of resources. The evidence included an operational document confirming the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas, classified as a war crime.
The document also included an operational plan by the 'Desert Wolves' to besiege El-Fashir and maps of Sudanese Armed Forces positions. Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the deaths of at least 40 Colombian mercenaries in Sudan and ordered an investigation.
Sudan reiterated its accusation against the UAE as the principal actor responsible for civilian deaths in violation of international law, holding it accountable for genocide and crimes against humanity. The complaint noted that the UAE's reservation upon joining the 1948 Genocide Convention indicates an intent to evade accountability. Sudan argued that the mercenaries are tools in a UAE-orchestrated proxy war, violating international law and various conventions.
The letter stressed that the war in Sudan is not an internal conflict but a foreign war of aggression financed and directed by the UAE, positioning it as the architect of Sudan's crisis.
Ambassador Idriss urged the Security Council to circulate the letter and its annexes as an official document, launch investigations, issue condemnations, hold perpetrators accountable, designate the RSF as a terrorist organization, and expose the UAE's actions against the Sudanese people.