Foreign weapons, military technology, foreign personnel and logistical networks are helping sustain Sudan’s war and expanding the ability of the warring parties to carry out attacks far beyond the front lines, a United Nations fact-finding mission has warned.
In a report published on Thursday, the UN mission said foreign support was strengthening the military capabilities of the rival forces and contributing to attacks that have caused widespread civilian harm. Some of the violations documented by investigators may amount to war crimes, Reuters reported.
Sudan’s war began in April 2023 following a power struggle between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. The conflict has devastated the country, displaced more than 14 million people and created what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The UN mission said investigators had found reasonable grounds to believe that a transnational network involving individuals and entities in the United Arab Emirates, Chad, Libya and Somalia supplied the RSF with weapons, military equipment, logistics, training and foreign personnel.
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According to the report, the UAE rejected allegations that it had provided military, logistical, financial or political support to the RSF, while Chad said it remained neutral in the war and denied knowledge of weapons transfers through its territory.
The mission also said it had obtained evidence that Colombian contractors played a significant role in operating and maintaining drone systems and other advanced weapons used by the RSF.
Investigators estimated that the total number of Colombian contractors involved could approach 2,000 and said some were present during operations around al-Fashir in Darfur.
Colombia told investigators that it opposed mercenarism and was taking steps to address the participation of Colombian nationals in foreign conflicts.
The latest findings follow a previous UN report in February that said mass killings of non-Arab communities after the RSF captured al-Fashir bore hallmarks of genocide. The RSF has denied allegations of abuses, saying such accounts were manufactured by its enemies, while also making counter-accusations against its opponents.
The UN mission said its investigation into external support for Sudan’s military was still at an early stage but had found evidence that foreign-supplied combat drones and loitering munitions had expanded the army’s long-range strike capabilities.
Loitering munitions are weapons that can remain over an area while searching for a target before striking.
The mission said both Sudan’s military and the RSF had committed serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in their drone operations, with some conduct amounting to war crimes.
More than 1,000 civilians were killed in drone strikes between January and May 2026, according to figures cited in the report.
The mission said the increased range and sophistication of the weapons enabled both sides to strike far beyond immediate front lines, with evidence pointing to drone attacks that killed civilians and hit hospitals, schools, markets and displacement sites.
The UN mission also said some foreign-supplied weapons were used in attacks on civilian locations, including Yabus Market in Blue Nile State.
Between May and July 2026, repeated RSF drone attacks damaged electricity and fuel facilities in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, which was under the control of Sudan’s military as RSF pressure intensified in June.
The strikes disrupted water supplies, healthcare, transport and other basic services in a city already under severe strain and partial siege, the mission said.
The report also highlighted strikes by Sudan’s military on Ad-Da’ein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur. Investigators said the attacks killed at least 70 people and left the facility non-functional.
The UN mission renewed calls for enforcement of the Darfur arms embargo and urged the UN Security Council to extend it across all of Sudan.
