Sudan War: UAE Denies Supporting RSF and Colombian Mercenaries

High-Profile Defections from RSF

Earlier this year, Sudan's military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan welcomed former RSF commander Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, also known as Al-Nour Al-Qubba, into the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). This is one of the most notable defections in the civil war. A few weeks later, another senior RSF commander, Ali Rizq Allah, also known as Al-Savannah, followed. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reviewed videos purportedly showing these defectors during the siege of El Fasher, where the NGO documented war crimes committed by the RSF under General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti) during the city's capture in October 2025.

Since the war began in 2023, al-Burhan has been trying to recruit defectors from the RSF, offering a general amnesty if they lay down their arms. HRW could not verify if this applies to the latest defectors. HRW researcher Mohamed Osman stressed that there must be no impunity: "Those responsible for serious international crimes do not get a free pass if they switch sides."

According to conflict monitors at ACLED, these defections may indicate growing tension within the RSF and "cracks in the RSF's core alliances." Local loyalties are apparently overriding central command, sparking violent competition over remaining war spoils.

UAE's Role in the War

The defections come as both sides have external support. The RSF's backers are believed to include the UAE, Ethiopia, Libya, Chad, and Kenya. The SAF, also accused of war crimes, is supported by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Eritrea. Iran is also suspected of providing military aid to the SAF.

Last year, US intelligence sources told The Wall Street Journal that the UAE was believed to have supplied the RSF with "advanced Chinese-made drones along with small arms, heavy machine guns, vehicles, artillery, mortars and ammunition." Cameron Hudson, a former chief of staff to several special envoys for Sudan, said: "The only thing that is keeping them [the RSF] in this war is the overwhelming amount of military support from the UAE. The war would be over if not for the UAE." In 2025, Amnesty International found evidence suggesting the UAE had "almost certainly" re-exported Chinese-made weapons to the RSF.

The UAE rejects these accusations. Salem Aljaberi, the UAE's assistant minister for security and military affairs, called Amnesty's allegations "baseless" and lacking "substantiated evidence."

Colombian Mercenaries in Sudan

In late May, HRW published a report titled "From Bogotá to El Fasher: The UAE's Role in the Deployment of Colombian Fighters and Other Backing to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan." The 83-page document details how hundreds of Colombian mercenaries have been recruited to fight alongside the RSF since 2024. It claims a Colombia-based recruitment agency worked with the Abu Dhabi-based Global Security Services Group (GSSG), which appears to have hired the contractors deployed to Sudan.

HRW's Joey Shea said Colombian contractors' social media posts helped track them. The report also drew on interviews with two Colombian contractors, three retired Colombian officers, a former GSSG employee, and residents of El Fasher. It cited images showing Spanish-speaking private military contractors, presumed Colombian, alongside RSF fighters in Sudan and training at UAE military facilities.

Experts believe former Colombian soldiers were recruited due to their extensive combat experience, often trained with US weapons systems. HRW noted that UAE authorities have recruited Colombian security personnel since at least 2011, and in Sudan "the UAE appears to be using the same playbook."

In April, the Conflict Insights Group published a report based on tracking Colombian fighters' cell phones, arguing that the UAE enabled the fall of El Fasher. The investigation led to a military training facility in Ghayathi, UAE, where Colombian mercenaries operated as part of the "Desert Wolves" brigade led by retired Colombian Colonel Alvaro Quijano. The US and UK have imposed sanctions on him for fueling Sudan's war.

The UAE again denies the allegations. Anwar Mohammad Gargash, an advisor to the UAE president, told Reuters: "We are calling for an immediate ceasefire. And most importantly we don't see the future of Sudan in a military junta. We see the future in Sudan in a civilian transition."

Humanitarian Crisis

Human rights organizations have documented mass killings. A UN fact-finding mission concluded the siege of El Fasher bore the "hallmarks of genocide." The RSF is believed to have killed around 70,000 people in El Fasher alone. Aid agencies say Sudan is currently the site of the world's largest and fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crisis. The World Food Program warns of one of the world's largest hunger crises. About 12 million have been displaced, and nearly 20 million face acute hunger.