Foreign mercenaries and the RSF—Colombians misled into battle

19 December 2024

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of recruiting foreign mercenaries since the Sudanese war began 20 months ago. Many local and foreign observers have raised concerns these recruitments will convert Sudan’s war into a regional conflict and instigate further instability. The latest case involves Colombian fighters, first identified near the Sudan-Libyan border in late November. 

Despite RSF leadership denials, witness statements and intelligence reports have strengthened the claim, raising further concerns about external meddling in Sudan’s conflict. 

On 21 November, armed groups allied and fighting alongside Sudan’s army announced targeting a convoy near the Sudanese-Libyan border. Following the attack, the forces reportedly recovered ID’s of Colombian citizens. 

An investigation by La Silla Vacia, a Colombian media outlet, uncovered more than 300 retired Colombian soldiers were misled into participating in Sudan’s ongoing conflict. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has asked the Foreign Ministry to look for options to return those involved in the scheme to Colombia.

Colombian journalist Santiago Rodriquez has uncovered a smuggling network that recruited former Colombian soldiers under false pretences and sent them to fight for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. Speaking to Ayin, Rodriguez explained how companies in Colombia and the United Arab Emirates enticed former military personnel with false security contracts and directed them into conflict zones. Colombian company A4SI and the UAE-based Global Security Service Group, Rodriguez said, are part of an international network that deceives skilled, former Colombian soldiers into military operations. While some soldiers may have been aware of their eventual role as mercenaries, many were misled about the nature of their contracts. 

According to Rodriguez, former Colombian soldiers were offered lucrative security contracts in the United Arab Emirates, supposedly to safeguard oil facilities. However, upon their arrival, they were informed of a very different mission. “They were told they were going to Libya and then Sudan to fight with the RSF,” Rodriquez said. He supported his investigation with testimonies from ex-soldiers, voice notes, photographs, and documents, including screenshots from WhatsApp groups used for operations.

An open-source investigation by Bellingcat suggests one of the Colombian soldiers whose identification papers were seized by Sudan’s army, Christian Lombana Moncayo, had departed Abu Dhabi on 11 October for Benghazi, Libya, and then travelled by road to Sudan.

Although the Sudanese joint forces allied with the army reported the deaths of 22 Colombian mercenaries, no evidence has been provided. Rodriquez questioned the lack of transparency, stating, “That’s a good question for the Sudanese Army—why are they claiming these Colombians were killed but providing no proof?” He also noted that after his investigation was published, the companies involved increased payments for the mercenaries and threatened them to remain silent about their involvement in Sudan.

Notably, neither the UAE nor the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have issued any official statement addressing the allegations of the Colombian investigation. 

This is not the first case of a UAE-based security company misleading individuals to fight in countries that the UAE has a vested interest in. Back in 2020, the UAE security company Black Shield recruited Sudanese to allegedly work as security guards in Abu Dhabi, only to find themselves fighting in restive Libya. 

Colombia’s diplomatic response

In response to reports of Colombian mercenaries fighting alongside the RSF, Colombian president Gustavo Petro tweeted via his account on ‘X’, emphasising the need for the return of Colombian mercenaries involved in the Sudanese conflict and highlighting the growing presence of private military contractors across Africa. 

As a part of these efforts, Colombia’s ambassador to Cairo, Anne Melania de Gaviria, held a meeting with Sudanese ambassador Emad El-Din Adawi to convey Colombia’s profound concern and regret over its citizens involvement in the conflict. Ambassador de Gaviria criticised their actions as ‘irresponsible’ and reiterated that the Colombian government does not support or are associated with such activities. 

This meeting was followed up by a phone call between the Colombian foreign minister Luiz Gilberto Murillo and Ali Yousef, the foreign minister of Sudan’s de facto government in Port Sudan, to express regret over the involvement of Colombian nationals in the conflict. Murillo condemned their actions and reaffirmed Colombia’s commitment to resolving the issue and ensuring their return. 

Dependence on foreign fighters  

Since the beginning of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the RSF have been accused of recruiting foreign mercenaries from Chad, Niger, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. RSF commanders have continuously refuted these allegations completely. “Until mid-April, we were a national force within the Sudanese army, and suddenly we are being called foreign mercenaries,” said Yousef Ezzat, former political advisor to the Rapid Support Forces leadership. 

The RSF recruitment of foreign mercenaries is a widespread strategy of the paramilitary group, security expert Yasir Zeidan said. “Each RSF leader would recruit mercenaries from Chad, Niger, Mali, and South Sudan to help them target cities; we have seen this in Khartoum, Wad Medani, and Sinja.” According to Zeidan, the RSF often uses foreign mercenaries to support their military operations, including recruiting snipers and military technicians. 

Retired Major General Amin Ismail says the RSF foreign soldier recruitment strategy has allowed them to draw fighters from across the region, bolstering its ranks during the ongoing war. “The RSF operates based on regional and ethnic backgrounds, which gives it access to fighters from across Arab-African tribes,” Ismail explained, emphasising the group’s strong dependence on foreign connections for financing and arms supplies. 

Foreign mercenaries across the region

Six months ago, an investigation by Ayin confirmed the involvement of foreign mercenaries from Chad, Central Africa, Libya, Yemen, Ethiopia, and South Sudan fighting alongside the RSF in Al Jazeera State. A member of the Al-Jazeera State resistance committee says foreign mercenaries repeatedly participated in the Al-Jazeera State attacks. 

A recently circulated video on social media appears highly likely to have been filmed in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, based on the size of the houses and roads visible in the footage. The video shows a soldier wearing an RSF uniform with an Arabic appearance and speaking in a Syrian accent, firing anti-aircraft Doshka rounds into the air in celebration of the fall of the Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad.