A confidential UN Sudan report has detailed how a UAE-linked network allegedly moved Colombian mercenaries into Sudan to fight alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Submitted to the UN Security Council in early November and disclosed by The New York Times on November 5, the report identifies Abu Dhabi-based Global Security Services Group (GSSG) as the principal recruiter of the Colombian fighters. It is the most detailed UN accounting yet of the Emirati role in Sudan’s war, which has killed hundreds of thousands since April 2023.
According to the report, the fighters played a significant role in the siege and capture of el-Fasher, the last major army-held city in Darfur, which fell in October 2025 after a siege of more than a year.
Their involvement reportedly included operating drones and providing artillery and infantry support. Investigators also identified training locations in Abu Dhabi, Ghayathi and al-Wathba.
The Desert Wolves
The contractors were former Colombian military personnel, organised into an operational battalion known as the “Desert Wolves” or “Lobos del Desierto”. Estimates of their numbers vary, from hundreds to higher totals in some reporting. A draft UN report seen by Reuters in July put the figure at 1,500 to 2,000 men.
Human Rights Watch documented the network in an 83-page report published on May 25, 2026. It found that a Colombia-based agency recruited the contractors, who signed contracts with GSSG and were moved through UAE facilities before deployment to Sudan.
GSSG was founded by a senior official in the Emirati presidency, and its business includes providing security services to government ministries, including Foreign Affairs and Presidential Affairs.
A network across four countries
The report says the mercenaries were trained and moved through a network involving the UAE, Somalia, eastern Libya and Chad. Investigators named a UAE-linked Puntland Maritime Police Force base in Bosaso, Somalia, as a transit and training site.
A July 2026 report by the same panel reached similar conclusions, saying the Colombians set up a base in Nyala in March 2025 and joined operations around el-Fasher. That report was kept from public release after Bahrain objected at the Security Council.
A separate UN fact-finding mission reported in September 2026 that a network operating through the UAE, Colombia, Chad, Libya and Somalia armed and staffed the RSF, and found hallmarks of genocide in el-Fasher.
Why the UN Sudan report matters for the UN itself
The disclosures land as the UAE’s Lana Nusseibeh, its former permanent representative to the UN, campaigns to lead the United Nations. Feature Pakistan reported on her bid in October.
In the first straw poll she finished fourth, with seven members in favour, six against and two marked “no opinion”.
Nusseibeh has fronted Abu Dhabi’s denials over Sudan. “Those allegations are categorically untrue,” she told CNN in 2024. She told The New York Times that Sudan would be “a litmus test for the next Secretary-General”.
Rights advocates argue her record cuts against that pledge. “Lana Nusseibeh has spent over a decade in roles acting for the U.A.E. government and repeatedly whitewashing their abusive role in Yemen and Sudan,” said Bruno Stagno Ugarte of Human Rights Watch.
The UAE’s denial
The UAE has rejected the allegations and says it is not involved in supporting the RSF’s military operations. It says GSSG is not involved in mercenary activity in Sudan.
In a letter included in the leaked report, the UAE said it “rejects any allegations of wrongdoing” and said its own authorities had investigated GSSG and cleared it.
It is important to be clear about what is established and what is not. The panel’s findings are the conclusions of UN investigators, not rulings by a court or a vote of the Security Council. The exact number of Colombians in Sudan is not settled. Readers should treat the UAE link as a serious, documented allegation rather than a proven fact.
Pakistan has its own stake in the region. Islamabad and Khartoum recently signed a visa-free travel deal and a cybercrime cooperation agreement, and Pakistan’s military leadership has met Sudan’s interior minister this year.
Frequently asked questions
What does the UN report say about the UAE and Sudan?
UN investigators say an Abu Dhabi firm recruited hundreds of former Colombian soldiers to fight for Sudan’s RSF, and that they played a key role in the siege and capture of el-Fasher. The UAE denies wrongdoing.
Who are the Desert Wolves?
The Desert Wolves are former Colombian soldiers organised into a battalion by GSSG. They reportedly operated drones and provided artillery and infantry support for the RSF.
Why does the report matter for the UN Secretary-General race?
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s candidate for UN Secretary-General, has fronted Abu Dhabi’s denials over Sudan.
What has the UAE said about the report?
The UAE denies the allegations. It says it does not support any party in Sudan’s war, that GSSG did not deploy mercenaries to Sudan, and that its own authorities investigated the company and cleared it.
