Sudan war fuelled by foreign fighters, UN-backed probe says

Foreign fighters and support networks are strengthening Sudan's warring parties and worsening violence against civilians, a UN-backed independent fact-finding mission warned Thursday.

The mission said foreign involvement was increasing the military capabilities of both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, including through recruitment, training, weapons, ammunition, military technology and logistics.

It documented the recruitment, training and deployment of foreign personnel to support the RSF. It also said there were reasonable grounds to believe Sudan's army used foreign-supplied drones in operations that harmed civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The report said up to 2,000 ex-military Colombian contractors had been deployed alongside RSF units, directly operating combat drones, artillery and advanced weapons. It said witnesses also reported fighters from South Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia, including women, mainly in frontline roles.

The fact-finding mission said private entities, intermediaries and recruiters operating from countries including Colombia and the United Arab Emirates used transit locations in Chad, Libya and Somalia to deliver personnel, training, weapons and logistics to the RSF.

The United Arab Emirates denied involvement in the civil war and said it had not provided arms or related material to any party in Sudan since the conflict began. It also said it strongly condemned violations of international law by all sides.

Sudan's war between the army and the RSF began in April 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.

The UN Human Rights Council established the fact-finding mission in October 2023. The investigative team is independent and does not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

The mission said attacks it documented by both the army and the RSF may amount to war crimes and echoed a US call to expand an arms embargo on Darfur to cover all of Sudan.