United Nations investigators detailed transnational networks that have supplied personnel, weapons, financing, logistics and training to forces fighting in Sudan. The report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission described external support as a central factor prolonging a war that began in April 2023.
The conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced about 13 million and pushed parts of the country into famine. Investigators warned that foreign assistance has expanded the capacity of both sides to continue fighting.
The mission traced a network involving the United Arab Emirates, Colombia and Chad that recruited and moved contractors for the RSF. Colombian personnel brought experience with advanced weapons and drones, while UAE-registered or UAE-linked entities played significant roles in financing, transport and deployment.
The UAE has denied providing military backing to the RSF. Investigators also found that foreign-supplied drones had increased the capabilities of Sudan's army, although they characterized several findings on external support as preliminary and called for further investigation and cooperation.
Drone attacks by both forces struck civilians and essential infrastructure and may amount to war crimes. The report connected foreign-trained fighters to killings during the 2025 assaults on Zamzam displacement camp and El Fasher, where witnesses described civilians being shot in homes and streets.
More than 100,000 people fled El Fasher during the offensive, and satellite images appeared to show possible mass graves and burning bodies. The findings place the movement of foreign personnel and technology within a campaign whose consequences were measured in mass displacement and destroyed civilian protection.
Chad, Colombia and the UAE cooperated with the mission, while several neighboring states provided no substantive response and Sudan's army and the RSF did not cooperate. The uneven access limited investigators' ability to establish the full route of equipment, money and fighters entering the country.
The investigators urged the Security Council to extend the existing arms embargo across Sudan and restrict the flow of weapons, finance, personnel and technology. The proposal would make outside enablers a direct target of international action instead of treating Sudan's war solely as a confrontation between two domestic forces.
