The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan released a new report on Thursday warning that foreign recruitment and external support networks are fueling the war in Sudan, strengthening the military capabilities of the country’s warring parties and enabling increasingly sophisticated military operations with devastating consequences for civilians.
The report documents how transnational entities operating across several countries have recruited, trained, and deployed foreign personnel to support the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while also facilitating the transfer of weapons, ammunition, military technology, and logistical support.
The report also finds reasonable grounds to believe that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) used foreign-supplied drones in operations that harmed civilians and civilian objects.
States linked to these supply chains have strict international legal obligations to exercise due diligence, investigate, and halt illicit mercenary and supply networks operating from or through their territories. They must also prevent violations and enforce the UN arms embargo. Directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects constitutes a war crime.
“The consequences of this external support are being felt most acutely by civilians,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission.
“This external support has not brought greater protection for civilians. Instead, civilians are paying the price through attacks on homes, hospitals, schools, markets and places of refuge.”
Transnational networks and foreign deployment
Investigating the depth of these supply lines, the Mission documented the deployment of up to 2,000 former Colombian military contractors who operated combat drones, artillery, and advanced weapons directly alongside RSF units in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.
The report found reasonable grounds to believe that private entities, logistics intermediaries, and recruiters operating from countries including Colombia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used transit locations in Chad, southeastern Libya, and Bosaso, Somalia, to deliver personnel, training, weapons, and logistics to the RSF in Sudan.
“We found a transnational chain of networks spanning several countries that provided the RSF with foreign personnel, training, weapons, and logistics,” said Mona Rishmawi, expert member of the Fact-Finding Mission.
“This support fed into RSF operations in Zamzam camp and later during the takeover of El-Fasher, where the Mission documented grave human rights and international humanitarian law violations and international crimes, including conduct displaying hallmarks of genocide.”
The report emphasizes that a significant portion of this logistical and financial support appears to originate from the UAE. The investigation highlights UAE-based individuals and entities that maintain facilities and a military base in Bosaso, Somalia.
The report describes this location as a "recurring logistical hub and transit point" for personnel and cargo destined for RSF-controlled areas. Furthermore, the report notes that these networks are involved in the “financing, transportation, training, and deployment of foreign fighters.”
Escalating drone warfare against civilians and civilian infrastructure
The report also found that foreign suppliers have substantially enhanced the drone capabilities of the RSF and SAF, enabling them to strike far beyond the front lines. Documented drone attacks include RSF strikes in Kalogi, South Kordofan State, which killed 114 people, around 60 of whom were children, as well as SAF strikes in Ad-Da’ein, East Darfur State, which killed at least 70 people and destroyed a major hospital.
Repeated RSF drone strikes in El Obeid, North Kordofan, especially between July and August 2026, progressively degraded essential infrastructure in a city already under severe strain and partial siege. These strikes repeatedly affected the city's electricity, fuel, and other infrastructure, exacerbating existing constraints on water, healthcare, transportation, and civilian movement.
The Mission found reasonable grounds to believe that these attacks constitute serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. The report stressed that continued external support despite well-documented violations raises serious concerns under international law.
“Accountability cannot stop with those who carry out the attacks,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, an expert member of the Fact-Finding Mission.
“The full chain of responsibility must be investigated, including those who order, finance, supply or otherwise facilitate international crimes.”
The Mission urged states to enforce the Darfur arms embargo, stop transferring arms where there is a substantial risk of contributing to serious violations, and investigate individuals and entities involved in illicit support networks. The Mission also called for strengthened accountability measures, and it called on the UN Security Council to extend the embargo throughout Sudan.
“The international community has been repeatedly warned about the violations unfolding in Sudan. Those warnings must now translate into action,” Othman said.
“Protecting Sudan’s civilians requires action not only against those fighting the war, but also against the individuals, entities and networks that enable it to continue.”
The Mission’s mandate
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan was established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023, and its mandate was extended to October 2026.
The mission's primary responsibility is to investigate and determine the facts, circumstances, and root causes of all alleged human rights violations, abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law. This includes crimes committed against refugees in the context of the ongoing armed conflict between the SAF and the RSF, as well as other warring parties.
Additionally, the HRC requested that the investigative body conduct urgent inquiries into alleged violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and related international crimes committed in and around the cities of El Fasher and El Obeid.
The world's largest humanitarian emergency
With Sudan's Armed Forces continuing to battle the Rapid Support Forces militia for control of the vast country, Sudan is experiencing the world's largest humanitarian emergency. An estimated 33.7 million people — nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population, including over 20 million children — currently require humanitarian assistance and protection due to the ongoing conflict.
Intense fighting broke out on April 15, 2023, between the SAF and the RSF in the capital city of Khartoum. The violence quickly escalated and spread across Sudan, forcing millions to flee their homes. The conflict began as a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF, resulting in the collapse of healthcare, food systems, and civilian protection nationwide.
Sudan is also experiencing the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 14 million people forced to flee. Of those displaced, around 9 million remain within Sudan's borders, while nearly 5 million have fled to neighboring countries due to ongoing warfare and previous conflict.
This war has been waged with unprecedented brutality against civilians, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. The RSF, in particular, has been implicated in mass killings and rape as a means of warfare. However, both warring parties have been accused of grave war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Rapid Support Forces have also been implicated in genocide.
Furthermore, Sudan is currently experiencing the world's most serious hunger crisis. Nearly 20 million people in the country are facing acute hunger, including 5 million in emergency conditions. Projections indicate that the number of people facing catastrophic hunger could rise from 135,000 to 200,000 between June and September.
Recently, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher issued a scathing rebuke to the international community, warning that the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan is being fueled by a global "lack of action," despite a clear understanding of the crisis's scope.In a briefing to the Security Council in late August, he told the world body that while the international community is well aware of the situation on the ground, the necessary political and financial response has failed to materialize.
He underscored the disparity between the needs of the Sudanese people and the international response, stating that the people of Sudan "need food, water and medicine. Yet the world sends drones, weapons and mercenaries."
Further information
Full text: Fueling Sudan’s conflict: weapons, fighters and external support networks, UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan (A/HRC/63/23, Advance unedited version), report, released September 3, 2026
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session63/advance-versions/a-hrc-63-23-auv.pdf
Website: Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan
https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ffm-sudan/index