Sudan civil war: Rights group accuses UAE of being transit point for Colombian mercenaries

BBC News · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · May 26, 2026 · 853 words · By Thomas Mukhwana

International Human Rights Allegations UAE Foreign Policy and Denial Sudanese Civil War

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What to know about International Human Rights Allegations

Rights group accuses UAE of being transit point for mercenaries on way to Sudan Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a United Arab Emirates-based company and transited through Emirati military bases to support paramilitary troops who committed atrocities…

Claims checked 18

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the findings are further evidence of UAE-backing for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been accused of war crimes during the Sudanese civil war.

Common ground

The UAE denies claims it recruited and trained foreign fighters in its territory.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this International Human Rights Allegations story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that War broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1422nrgm1jo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8

check_circle Corroborated 4

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

cancel Disputed 1

verified

Claim 1: “War broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The start date of the Sudanese civil war (April 15, 2023) is confirmed by Wikipedia, Al Jazeera, and other news sources.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a timeline of the Sudanese civil war in 2026. This timeline is a dynamic and fluid list, and as such may never satisfy criteria of completeness. Moreover, some events may only be full…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Sudanese_civil…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Battle of Khartoum was a major strategic battle for control of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, with fighting in and around the city between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sud…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khartoum_(2023–2025)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since April 2023, there has been a civil war in Sudan between two primary factions of the country's military government. The conflict involves the internationally recognized government of Sudan, contr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_civil_war_(2023–prese…

+ 4 more evidence sources

help

Claim 2: “HRW says airports in the UAE, Libya, Chad and Somalia were used as transit points for the mercenaries before travelling to the frontlines in the Darfur region.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim about specific transit airports in Libya, Chad, and Somalia.

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Claim 3: “Human Rights Watch (HRW), the findings are further evidence of UAE-backing for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report that Human Rights Watch (HRW) has provided evidence of UAE backing for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) through the recruitment and training of foreign fighters.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Darfur genocide, also known as the second Darfur genocide, is an ongoing series of persecutions and mass killings of non-Arabs in Darfur carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allie…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_genocide_(2023–present)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Rapid Support Forces (RSF; Arabic: قُوَّاتْ الدّعْمْ السَّرِيعْ, romanized: Quwwāt ad-daʿm as-sarīʿ) are a Sudanese paramilitary force formerly operated by the Sudanese government. They originated…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Support_Forces

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Arab Emirates (UAE), also known simply as the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, situated at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal semi-constitutional monarchy made up…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “six el-Fasher residents told Human Rights Watch they saw people they believed were Colombians in the city in October 2025”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 5: “Investigations by the rights organisation point to the involvement of a complex network of Colombian and Emirati companies which advertised 'drone pilot work in Africa' targeting former Colombian army men.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim about advertisements for 'drone pilot work in Africa'.

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Claim 6: “the mercenaries were then trained in UAE military facilities in Ghiyathi and Al Wathba”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “In December 2025, the US imposed sanctions on a network and individuals - primarily of Colombian nationality - it said was recruiting former Colombian soldiers and training them to fight in Sudan.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “The UAE denies claims it recruited and trained foreign fighters in its territory.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state that the UAE government has strongly denied the accusations regarding the recruitment and training of foreign fighters.

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web search NEUTRAL — A result of his opposition to the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, this approach assists the UAE's plans to avoid external threat, silence dissent, exercise influence and secure its interests. MbZ has acti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan

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web search NEUTRAL — The UAE government has strongly denied the accusations.Officials state that more than "6,000 were killed within the first three days of the RSF offensive." Residents and survivors placed foreign fight…
https://www.myjoyonline.com/rights-group-accuses-uae-of-trai…

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web search NEUTRAL — Some showed contractors fighting alongside the RSF in Sudan and training in UAE military facilities. The recruitment effort was ostensibly led by private entities, but Human Rights Watch found that th…
https://www-hrw-org.nproxy.org/news/2026/05/25/sudan-colombi…

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Claim 9: “Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a United Arab Emirates-based company and transited through Emirati military bases to support paramilitary troops who committed atrocities in Sudan”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a UAE-based company (specifically Global Security Services Group) and used Emirati military bases to transit to Sudan to support the RSF.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Arab Emirates is a high-income developing market economy (Open market economy), which also advocates for Islamic economics. Its economy is the 4th largest in the Middle East (after Turkey, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_Arab_Emi…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “Since then more 150,000 people are believed to have died from the violence and more than 12.9 million have been displaced.”

DISPUTED

While sources confirm massive displacement and death, the numbers vary. One source mentions 12.4 million displaced, another 12 million, and another 12.9 million (implied by the claim). The death toll of 150,000 is not explicitly confirmed in the provided snippets, though the scale of violence is acknowledged.

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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago ... How did Colombian private military contractors end up fighting in Sudan alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)? It all appears to start with ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYz0u9mHCOt/

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 14, 2025 ... More than 12.4 million people have been forced from their homes across Sudan – including over 3.3 million refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1162241

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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 16, 2025 ... An estimated 12 million people had been forced to leave their homes as of July 2025, including 7.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs)— ...
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/sudan-civil-war-disp…

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Claim 11: “Colombian President Gustavo Petro was quoted last year as calling the mercenaries 'spectres of death' and describing their recruitment as a 'form of human trafficking'”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of search results about the President of the United States, which are completely irrelevant to Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 15, 2025 · As of 2025, the President of the United States is Donald J. Trump, a real estate mogul, television personality, and political outsider who reshaped modern American politics.
https://allaboutamerica.com/united-states/who-is-the-preside…

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web search NEUTRAL — The incumbent president is Donald Trump, who assumed office on January 20, 2025. [5][6] Since the office was established in 1789, 45 men have served in 47 presidencies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit…

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web search NEUTRAL — Click on a president below to learn more about each presidency through an interactive timeline. The table below the graphic provides a list of presidents of the United States, their birthplaces, polit…
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Presidents-of-the-United-St…

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Claim 12: “Some of the munitions were manufactured in Serbia and Bulgaria but purchased by the UAE”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “munitions belonging to the UAE armed forces were found after the capture of Colombian mercenaries inside Sudan”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 14: “RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo last year declared an investigation into what he called violations committed by his soldiers during the capture of el-Fasher.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 15: “The United Nations Human Rights Office estimates that more than '6,000 were killed within the first three days of the RSF offensive' [in el-Fasher]”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 16: “HRW alleged that an Abu Dhabi-based company recruited the Colombian contractors who were deployed to Sudan to 'provide the RSF with tactical and technical expertise'”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 17: “research by security analysis organisation, the Conflict Insights Group (CIG), which also highlighted the alleged involvement of Colombian mercenaries in Darfur”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only one specific web search result mentions the Conflict Insights Group (CIG) and its research regarding Colombian mercenaries in Darfur.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Apr 22, 2026 · #UAE Funded #Sudan RSF Militia Training Camp in #Ethiopia , [11 February 2026] - By Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The UAE has ...
https://www.facebook.com/BBCnewsafrica/posts/the-conflict-in…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 4, 2026 · On April 17, the US Treasury announced sanctions on five individuals and entities involved in recruiting and deploying former Colombian military ...
https://www.facebook.com/berhane.habtemariam.52/videos/sudan…

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web search NEUTRAL — 7 days ago · Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a United Arab Emirates-based company and transited through Emirati military bases to support ...
https://www.aol.com/news/rights-group-accuses-uae-being-1437…

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Claim 18: “The HRW investigation was conducted through interviews with Colombian mercenaries between March and September 2025”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly state that the HRW investigation involved interviews with Colombian contractors/mercenaries conducted between March and September 2025.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been the subject of extensive criticism from a number of observers. Critics of HRW include the national governments it has …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Human_Rights_Watc…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Colombia is a sovereign state situated in South America. It has been a member of the United Nations since 5 November 1945, and is party to a variety of international agreements concerning human rights…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Colombia

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, in Spanish) were a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Self-Defense_Forces_of_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.