FT Investigation: UAE recruited Colombian mercenary fighters to fight in Sudan
LONDON, Aug. 19 (YPA) – The British newspaper Financial Times revealed in an extensive investigation detail of a network that recruited and transported around 2,000 Colombian fighters to Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), through the UAE-based Global Security Services Group (GSSG).
According to the investigation, the fighters were recruited in Colombia from mid-2024 and transported to Sudan through a network of bases and airports in countries linked to the UAE, including Kufra in Libya and Bosaso in Somalia. Around 300 specialists received training in the use of drones and anti-aircraft weapons in the UAE during 2025, according to fighters’ testimonies and an analysis of device-tracking data.
Former fighters told the newspaper that the Colombians formed an organized force comprising several battalions and were deployed in Nyala, Darfur, and El Fasher. Some took part in military operations that preceded the fall of El Fasher. They also described using drones and artillery and guarding RSF positions.
The newspaper said the fighters’ accounts were supported by flight and migration records, video footage, testimonies from Sudanese residents, and an analysis of phone-tracking data, as well as previous investigations by Human Rights Watch.
An analysis by the Conflict Insights Group identified devices set to Spanish moving between bases in the UAE, Bosaso, Nyala, and El Fasher, in a pattern consistent with accounts of the transportation of Colombian fighters.
The investigation also found that some mercenaries received monthly salaries ranging from $2,600 to $3,500, depending on rank. According to several fighters, Bosaso served as a logistical and medical hub for transporting personnel and the wounded, as well as a facility for storing the bodies of some of those killed.
The newspaper cited accounts of serious abuses in areas where RSF forces were deployed, including torture and killings. Some Colombians denied directly participating in the killing of civilians during the fall of El Fasher, but acknowledged that they had not intervened to prevent abuses taking place in front of them.
According to the investigation, GSSG was established in 2016 by Ahmed Mohammed al-Humairi, the secretary-general of the UAE Presidential Court, and described itself as a provider of armed private security services to the UAE government.
Fighters also said that some of their training took place at UAE bases, including the Ghayathi base in Abu Dhabi, which had previously been named in UN reports in connection with the training of fighters.
@E.Y.M