AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission stated in its report that foreign support is reinforcing the military capabilities of the parties to the conflict in Sudan and enabling complex military operations with severe and devastating consequences for civilians.
The report documented the involvement of foreign parties and entities operating across several countries in recruiting, training, and deploying foreign forces to support the "Rapid Support Forces" rebels, as well as facilitating the transfer of weapons, ammunition, and military technology to Sudan and providing logistical support to the rebels.
The UN Fact-Finding Mission also concluded that there are reasonable grounds to confirm that the Sudanese army has used foreign-supplied drones in its operations.
Mohamed Chande Othman, head of the UN Fact-Finding Mission, said the impact of this foreign support has fallen heaviest on Sudanese civilians, who are paying the price due to attacks on homes, hospitals, schools, markets, and shelters.
The UN mission stated it has documented the deployment of about two thousand former Colombian military contractors to Sudan, who are directly involved in operating combat drones, artillery equipment, and advanced weapons in Sudan alongside the "Rapid Support Forces" in Darfur and Kordofan.
The UN emphasized there is evidence and documentation indicating that private entities operating in countries including the United Arab Emirates and Colombia are using routes through Chad, southeastern Libya, and the city of Bossaso in Somalia to facilitate the transfer of personnel, training, and weapons and logistical shipments for the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.
The UN researchers called on countries around the world to enforce the arms embargo imposed on the Darfur region, conduct investigations into institutions and individuals involved in illegal support networks, and strengthen accountability measures. They also called on the UN Security Council to expand the arms embargo to cover all of Sudan.
Mohamed Chande Othman, stating that the international community has received repeated warnings about the situation in Sudan, emphasized that these warnings must now be translated into practical action.
It is worth noting that the new round of Sudan's civil war began on April 15, 2023, between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, over power and tensions related to how the Rapid Support Forces would be integrated into the army following the 2021 coup, and international mediation efforts to end it have so far been unsuccessful.
Since gaining independence in 1956, Sudan has experienced prolonged tensions and instability, witnessing 20 coup attempts and two devastating civil wars—one from 1955 to 1972 and another from 1983 to 2005—which ultimately led to the independence and secession of South Sudan in 2011.
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