UAE Shadow Network Funnels Colombian Mercenaries to Sudan's RSF

A clandestine logistics network coordinated by a security contractor in the United Arab Emirates is deploying thousands of Colombian mercenaries to support paramilitary forces in Sudan.

The operation highlights Abu Dhabi’s deepening covert footprint in the Sudanese civil war.

Veterans of South American insurgencies and drug cartels are being contracted to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), according to a Financial Times investigation.

The Emirati Pipeline

Recruitment for the African deployment accelerated in mid-2024 through the Global Security Services Group (GSSG). The UAE-based private security firm operates under alleged ties to the Emirati Presidential Court.

Combatants receive initial training at military facilities inside the UAE, including the Ghayathi and Al Wathba camps in Abu Dhabi.

Emirati military personnel directly instruct the foreign recruits in drone operations and anti-aircraft systems.

Once prepared, the fighters move through a shadow transit network to reach the battlefield. Mercenaries board ghost flights, aircraft operating with disabled transponders, traveling through strategic regional hubs.

The flights touch down at an Emirati-funded base in Bosaso, Somalia, and airstrips in Kufra, Libya.

From these staging grounds, logistical convoys transport the combatants into active combat zones across Darfur.

Digital Breadcrumbs

Geolocation data corroborates the mercenary battalions' physical movement.

The Conflict Insights Group (CIG) tracked dozens of Spanish-language mobile devices moving from UAE training bases to Somali transit hubs, and ultimately to Sudanese frontlines.

Devices linked to the Colombian operators registered on local networks in El Fasher during periods of severe civilian casualties.

“The digital trail connects Abu Dhabi’s training camp to El Fasher’s mass graves,” said Justin Lynch, head of CIG.

Mercenaries reported earning up to $3,500 monthly for the deployment. When standard banking transfers stalled, operators received physical cash pallets flown directly from the Emirates.

Denials and Geopolitical Stakes

The UAE government categorically denies involvement in mercenary recruitment or military support for the RSF.

Officials claim comprehensive internal investigations cleared GSSG of any illicit activity in Sudan.

However, Abu Dhabi maintains substantial strategic interests in the conflict.

Emirati leadership perceives the SAF as infiltrated by Islamist factions hostile to Gulf monarchies, while seeking to protect lost agricultural and port investments.

In December 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned key figures managing the deployment, including former Colombian colonel Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra.

The sanctions targeted his central role in supplying specialized tactical operators to the RSF.

The mercenaries themselves recognize the financial origins of their mission.

“It’s the Emirates that put in the most money and resources in the conflict and who provide weapons to the RSF,” said Manuel, a former mercenary deployed to the region.