UAE denies funnelling mercenaries into Sudan

Human Rights Watch has accused an Abu Dhabi-based security company of recruiting Colombian private military contractors and deploying them to fight alongside Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) between 2024 and 2025, adding to what the rights group describes as a growing body of evidence of Emirati military support for the paramilitary group.

According to the report published Tuesday, the recruitment operation was orchestrated by Emirati firm Global Security Services (GSSG), described as authorised to work for the UAE government and linked to the ruling family and senior officials, through a network of companies in Colombia and Panama, with contractors travelling to Sudan via a complex air bridge spanning multiple transit countries.

The RSF has been locked in a devastating civil war against Sudan's army since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands, some estimates put the death toll above 200,000, displaced millions and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. 

HRW documents extensive RSF atrocities, including mass extrajudicial executions, rape, sexual slavery and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

The UAE has categorically denied all allegations. 

An Emirati government official said that the country "does not permit its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan," adding that anyone acting otherwise "would be subject to criminal investigation."