A network of Colombian mercenaries backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided critical support to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), enabling it to capture the western city of el-Fasher last year, a new report says.
The investigation, by security analysis organisation the Conflict Insights Group (CIG), used data obtained from tracking the mobile phones of the Colombian fighters.
The UAE has long denied supporting the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan's regular army for three years.
El-Fasher's fall was one of the most brutal chapters of the conflict, which has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis with tens of thousands killed and millions forced from their homes.
The CIG has been closely following evidence of extensive Emirati military assistance to the RSF, but this is the first research where we can prove UAE involvement with certainty, says director Justin Lynch.
We are making public what governments have long known - that there is a direct link between Abu Dhabi and the RSF.
The report shows mercenaries involved with drones travelling from a UAE base to Sudan before the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, he says.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro referred to the mercenaries as spectres of death and called their recruitment a form of human trafficking. The UAE has issued statements rejecting allegations of its support for the RSF.
Revealing a concerning nexus, the report indicates that the UAE-Colombian network bears shared responsibility for the atrocities committed during the siege, which were characterized as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The CIG details tracking of more than 50 mobile phones linked to Colombian fighters operating within RSF-held regions, and asserts that the scale of atrocities in el-Fasher would not have occurred without their involvement.
