Major Colombian Mercenary Assault Repelled By Sudanese Forces

<p >The Sudanese armed forces have reported the success of major offensives against a large contingent of Colombian and French contractors, which entered the country from across the Libyan border to participate in the ongoing war effort. Mercenary forces were reported to have been neutralised, and large quantities of supplies seized. The contingent, which is reported to have been financed and organised by the United Arab Emirates and its Western allies, had been en route to reinforce the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which has been at war with the Sudanese government since April 2023. The RSF has relied heavily on foreign  mercenaries throughout its operations, although these have been consistently drawn from Chad and Central Africa, with the entry into the theatre of a large number of Colombian and French origin personnel representing a new development.</p><p >Equipment captured during engagements include seven armoured vehicles and 25 four-wheel drive vehicles, and a range of weapons systems and ammunition including high calibre heavy weapons. These included large pies of <a href=" target="_blank">Russian Kornet anti tank missiles</a>, which have reportedly been acquired by the United Arab Emirates in significant quantities to equip the RSF. Passports, bank cards and family photos confirmed that the bulk of the contingent was of Colombian origin, and that they had entered the United Arab Emirates through Al Maktoum International Airport in October. </p><p ><img src=" title="Colombian Army Personnel"></p><p >Colombian mercenaries have played significant roles in a number of conflicts, including in Yemen in the 2010s when the fought alongside the Sudanese and Chadian militias that later became the RSF on the payrolls of Arab Gulf States. The campaign saw these forces fight alongside special forces and aerial support assets from a number of Western Bloc countries.  Colombians have more recently been deployed to Ukraine in significant numbers, with many having been captured by Russian forces. Mercenaries from the country have been involved in a number of other operations, with almost all the mercenaries involved in the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise, a figure long viewed unfavourably by Western interests, having been of Colombian origin. The Colombian Armed Forces were themselves previously directly involved in supporting U.S.-led coalition forces in the Korean War. </p><p ><img src=" title="Rapid Support Forces Personnel in Sudan"></p><p >Sudan has suffered from serious instability ever since Western backed mass riots in the capital Khartoum led to the <a href=" >toppling</a> of the administration of President Omar Al Bashir in April 2019, with the security and economic situations having declined consistently since then. Sudan was previously a close strategic partner of Russia, China, Algeria and Syria, and had a budding defence relationship with North Korea, with its considerable resource wealth leading Western Bloc states to seek to assert an influence over its territory. The Sudanese Armed Forces’ rejection of post-2019 Western backed political forces led to growing tensions with the Western-aligned RSF, leading to the outbreak of hostilities. The Armed Forces have received Iranian support in their ongoing campaign against the RSF, and have come close to fully security the capital Khartoum among other gains across multiple fronts. Reports of Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Egypt returning in large numbers have emerged since October. The significant losses suffered by the RSF, and the destruction of their reinforcements flowing from French-aligned Chad, is thought to have incentivised the paramilitary group’s foreign supporters to send additional forces into the theatre through Libya. </p>