Foreign support sustaining Sudan war – UN report

Foreign recruitment and external support networks are sustaining and expanding the civil war in Sudan by providing weapons, military technology and fighters, to the detriment of civilians, according to a UN-backed investigation, reports Al Jazeera. A report by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said transnational entities operating across several countries recruited, trained and deployed foreign personnel to support the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The report also said there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) used foreign-supplied drones in its operations that harmed civilians and civilian infrastructure. The report said external entities have substantially enhanced the drone capabilities of both the RSF and the SAF, enabling them to strike far beyond front lines. The investigation documented the deployment of up to 2 000 former Colombian military contractors, who it said directly operated combat drones, artillery and advanced weapons alongside RSF units in Darfur and Kordofan. The Colombian Government told investigators it opposed mercenarism and was taking steps to address the participation of its nationals in foreign conflicts. Witnesses also reported fighters from South Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia, ‘including women, serving primarily in frontline, rather than technical roles’, identified by language, accent ‘and, in some cases uniforms’, the report said. Private entities, intermediaries and recruiters operating from countries including Colombia and the UAE used transit locations in Chad, Libya and Somalia to facilitate the delivery of personnel, training, weapons and logistics to the RSF in Sudan, the report said. The UAE rejected allegations that it had provided military, logistical, financial or political support to the RSF. Chad said it remained neutral in the war, and Somalia’s Government said it took the report’s allegations seriously, according to Reuters.