Sudan Airstrike Allegedly Kills Colombian Mercenaries Backed by the UAE
Noriko Watanabe, Michiyo Tanabe, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Sudan’s armed forces claim to have killed approximately 40 Colombian mercenaries who are reportedly supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to the Sudanese military, the mercenaries were killed following the targeting of a suspected aircraft—believed to be from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—at an airport in the Darfur region.
The Sudanese government continues to accuse the UAE of deploying foreign mercenaries to support the RSF in the country’s ongoing conflict. Reports also suggest the involvement of mercenaries from other African nations in the fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF.
AP news reports, “Wednesday’s strike on the Nyala airport killed at least 40 suspected mercenaries from Colombia and destroyed a shipment of arms and equipment that were sent by the United Arab Emirates to the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, according to two Sudanese military officials and an adviser to a Darfur rebel leader allied with RSF.”
Before the airstrike that reportedly killed approximately 40 Colombian mercenaries, images circulating on social media appeared to show Colombian and other Spanish-speaking fighters operating in Sudan. According to Sudanese authorities, additional mercenaries from regional African nations are also active in the country, allegedly with backing from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A UAE official dismissed Sudan’s accusations as “entirely false,” describing them as “unfounded allegations” and part of what the official called Sudan’s “ongoing campaign of disinformation and deflection,” according to statements made to the media.
However, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia appeared to lend credibility to Sudan’s account, stating, “We will see if we can bring their bodies back.”
President Petro continued, “They wanted so much war within Colombia that, as the war weakens in our country, they seek it abroad—where no one has harmed us.”
Tensions between Sudan’s armed forces and the RSF escalated into open conflict in April 2023. Since then, the capital, Khartoum, along with several other regions across the country, has been engulfed in a devastating war.
Reports from Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, and other areas indicate that Arab Muslim fighters aligned with the RSF have been involved in widespread atrocities, including the killing and sexual violence against members of various Black African ethnic groups — acts that have drawn allegations of ethnic cleansing.
Catherine Russell (the Executive Director of UNICEF – actively involved in highlighting the crisis in Sudan) said, “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action… Millions of children in Sudan are at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence, which is being used as a tactic of war. This is an abhorrent violation of international law and could constitute a war crime. It must stop.”
Sudan Tribune reports, “A report by a Sudanese rights group has accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias of committing war crimes and systematic ethnic cleansing in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan region, using sexual violence and starvation as weapons of war.”
The UAE’s involvement in the ongoing war in Sudan is widely acknowledged. Regardless of the fog of war—marked by conflicting claims and counterclaims—foreign interference continues to intensify the crisis, further destabilizing an already dire situation.
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