Sudanese army destroys UAE plane, killing forty mercenaries

(Patria) - Sudanese air forces destroyed a United Arab Emirates plane with Colombian mercenaries while landing at an airport in Darfur controlled by paramilitary forces, killing at least forty people, the army-linked state television announced on Wednesday.

A military source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that the UAE plane was "bombed and completely destroyed" at Nyala airport in Darfur, which has recently been under repeated air strikes by the Sudanese army, which has been at war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group since April 2023.

There were no immediate comments from the RSF or the United Arab Emirates.
State television announced that the plane took off from a base in the Gulf, carrying dozens of foreign fighters and military equipment intended for the RSF, which controls almost all of Darfur.

The army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has long accused the UAE of supplying the RSF with advanced weapons, including drones, through Nyala airport.

Abu Dhabi has denied the accusations, despite numerous reports from United Nations experts, US political officials, and international organizations.

Satellite imagery released by Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab shows several Chinese-made long-range drones at the airport of the capital of South Darfur state.

In June, three witnesses told AFP that a cargo plane was bombed shortly after landing at Nyala airport.

On Monday, the Sudanese government, linked to the army, accused the UAE of recruiting and financing Colombian mercenaries to fight for the RSF, claiming to have documents proving it.

Reports of Colombian fighters in Darfur date back to late 2024, and have been confirmed by UN experts.

This week, the Joint Forces, a pro-army coalition in the vast western region of Darfur, reported over eighty Colombian mercenaries fighting on the side of the RSF in El-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital still under army control.

Several of them were reportedly killed in drone and artillery operations during the latest RSF offensive, the coalition announced.

The army also released a video it said showed "foreign mercenaries believed to be from Colombia".

In December, Sudan announced that the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed regret "for the involvement of some of its citizens in the war".

Colombian mercenaries, many former soldiers and guerrillas, have appeared in other global conflicts, and the UAE has previously hired them for operations in Yemen and the Gulf.

The war in Sudan, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced thirteen million, and pushed the nation into the world's worst crisis of hunger and displacement.