A confidential United Nations report has accused an Abu Dhabi-based security company of recruiting and deploying hundreds of Colombian former soldiers to fight alongside Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to The New York Times, which disclosed the report’s findings on 5 November. The findings — the most detailed account yet of a foreign-fighter pipeline sustaining Sudan’s civil war — land as the United Arab Emirates campaigns to place its own candidate at the head of the United Nations.
The report, submitted to the UN Security Council in early November, identifies Global Security Services Group (GSSG), an Abu Dhabi-based private security company, as the principal recruiter and facilitator of the Colombian fighters, the Times reported. The company is described as having close political, business and familial connections to senior figures in the UAE leadership. It was founded by a senior official in the UAE Presidential Court, and its business includes providing security services to government ministries, including Foreign Affairs and Presidential Affairs.
The UAE has consistently denied providing military assistance to either side in Sudan’s war, and an Emirati spokesperson told the Times that the country did not support any party to the conflict and did not permit its territory to be used for recruiting, training, financing or facilitating the transit of foreign fighters to Sudan.
What the report alleges
According to the report, GSSG recruited hundreds of former Colombian military personnel and organised them into an operational battalion known as the “Desert Wolves”, or Lobos del Desierto. The fighters reportedly served in several military roles, including infantry operations, artillery, drone operations, vehicle deployment and the training of RSF combatants.
The recruitment operation moved the fighters through a network of transit points connected to Emirati allies and partners. The routes included Bosaso in Somalia and areas of eastern Libya controlled by forces aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar, before the fighters were transported into Sudan, according to the report.
Earlier investigations cited estimates ranging from several hundred to approximately 2,000 Colombian contractors deployed over time. The UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Sudan separately judged credible estimates of 1,500 to 2,000 Colombian contractors, according to reporting on its findings.
The scale matters because the RSF has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023 in a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and produced widespread atrocities, particularly in Darfur. Foreign fighters, drones and logistics have repeatedly been identified by UN investigators as factors keeping the conflict going despite repeated international calls for a ceasefire.
A network documented before
The latest disclosures build on a series of earlier investigations that documented the same recruitment chain through different evidence.
In May 2026, Human Rights Watch published an 83-page report, From Bogotá to El Fasher, drawing on interviews with two Colombians who were deployed to Sudan, three informed sources, six residents of El Fasher, corporate records, employment documents, photographs, videos and geolocation data. It concluded that the evidence indicated the UAE was assisting or substantially contributing to the RSF’s capacity to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Human Rights Watch found that a Colombia-based recruitment agency, A4SI, recruited the contractors, who signed contracts with GSSG and were transferred through UAE military facilities, including Ghiyathi and Al Wathba, before deployment. The United States Treasury sanctioned A4SI in December 2025.
A July 2026 report by UN investigators documented the training arrangements but was not made public after objections at the Security Council. The Times reported that Bahrain objected to its publication, allegedly at the UAE’s request — a suggestion Abu Dhabi rejected.
Separately, the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan reported on 3 September 2026 that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” a transnational network operating in or through the UAE, Colombia, Chad, Libya and Somalia armed and staffed the RSF. That mission did not attribute the network’s conduct to the Emirati state, and it made no finding of Colombian state responsibility.
El Fasher: where the fighters were deployed
The reported deployment is particularly consequential because Colombian contractors were allegedly involved in RSF operations around El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, during its prolonged siege and eventual capture in October 2025.
A July 2026 UN experts’ report said Colombian mercenaries established a base in Nyala in March 2025 and participated in operations supporting the RSF’s campaign around El Fasher. The contractors reportedly operated drones and assisted with military planning during the siege and capture of the city.
The RSF’s takeover followed more than 500 days of siege and was accompanied by widespread killings, sexual violence, abductions and other abuses against civilians. UN investigators have said the assault bore the “hallmarks of genocide”. Previous investigations also pointed to foreign contractors’ involvement in training activities involving child soldiers — recruitment and use of children in hostilities is prohibited under international law.
The UN leadership question
The timing of the disclosures presents a fresh diplomatic challenge for the UAE as it seeks to secure the appointment of Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, its senior diplomat and former ambassador to the United Nations, as the next UN secretary-general. The UAE formally nominated Nusseibeh on 21 October 2026 to succeed António Guterres, whose term ends on 31 December. She previously served as the UAE’s permanent representative to the UN from 2013 to 2024.
Nusseibeh has repeatedly rejected allegations that the UAE provides military, logistical or financial support to the RSF, maintaining that her country’s engagement in Sudan is humanitarian and directed towards ending the conflict. On 28 October, Human Rights Watch published a statement accusing her of repeatedly denying and diverting attention from evidence of her government’s alleged support for the RSF.
During an interactive dialogue with UN member states and civil society representatives on 27 October, Nusseibeh was challenged over her previous denials of UN findings concerning the UAE’s alleged links to the RSF. She did not directly address whether she would continue rejecting those findings if appointed secretary-general, saying instead that she had taken leave from her UAE government responsibilities while pursuing the candidacy and would refer questions concerning the UAE to its government.
“She played a significant role in obfuscating her government’s contribution to atrocities in Sudan. That ought to disqualify her from any further consideration.” — Cameron Hudson, a former CIA analyst and director for African affairs at the US National Security Council, speaking to The New York Times
The Sudanese government has also challenged her nomination. A representative of Sudan’s permanent mission to the UN questioned her independence, pointing to her previous rejection of international findings concerning alleged Emirati support for the RSF. Sudan has consistently accused Abu Dhabi of financing, arming and providing political and logistical backing to the paramilitary group. The UAE rejects the accusations.
The Security Council held its eighth straw poll on candidates for the next secretary-general on Thursday, as the selection process enters its final weeks.
The UAE’s denial
The UAE has consistently denied providing military assistance to either side in Sudan’s war and has rejected allegations that it recruited, financed, trained or facilitated the deployment of foreign fighters to support the RSF.
In response to the latest allegations, an Emirati spokesperson told the Times that the UAE did not support any party to the conflict and did not permit its territory to be used for recruiting, training, financing or facilitating the transit of foreign fighters to Sudan. The UAE also maintained that GSSG had not deployed mercenaries to Sudan or violated Emirati laws and regulations, and said its involvement in Sudan was humanitarian.
What remains unverified: the confidential UN report itself has not been made public, so its findings are known only through the Times’ account of it. The figures for Colombian contractors are estimates from different investigations, not a single verified count. And the UN fact-finding mission’s September report, while finding a transnational network supplied the RSF, did not attribute that conduct to the Emirati state. The allegations against GSSG and the UAE remain allegations, which Abu Dhabi denies.
How the disclosures unfolded
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| August 2024 | First Colombian contractors reported deployed to Sudan. |
| March 2025 | UN experts say Colombians set up a base in Nyala and joined RSF operations around El Fasher. |
| 25 May 2026 | Human Rights Watch publishes From Bogotá to El Fasher, documenting the GSSG–A4SI recruitment chain. |
| July 2026 | UN Panel of Experts report documents training arrangements but is not published after Security Council objections. |
| 3 September 2026 | UN Fact-Finding Mission finds “reasonable grounds to believe” a transnational network armed and staffed the RSF. |
| 21 October 2026 | UAE formally nominates Lana Nusseibeh for UN secretary-general. |
| 5 November 2026 | The New York Times discloses the confidential UN report naming GSSG as the principal recruiter. |
Frequently asked questions
Who are the “Desert Wolves”?
According to the confidential UN report disclosed by The New York Times, the “Desert Wolves” — Lobos del Desierto in Spanish — is a battalion of former Colombian military personnel recruited by the Abu Dhabi-based Global Security Services Group and deployed to fight alongside Sudan’s RSF, operating drones and artillery and training RSF fighters.
Has the UAE been found responsible?
No. The UN Fact-Finding Mission’s September 2026 report found “reasonable grounds to believe” that a transnational network supplied the RSF, but it did not attribute the network’s conduct to the Emirati state. Human Rights Watch concluded the evidence indicated the UAE was assisting or substantially contributing to the RSF’s capacity to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law. The UAE denies all of the allegations.
Why does this matter for the UN secretary-general race?
The UAE’s candidate, Lana Nusseibeh, is seeking to lead the organisation whose investigators produced the findings she has repeatedly disputed. Critics, including Human Rights Watch and former US officials, argue that her record of denying UN findings undermines her ability to lead the UN’s investigative mechanisms independently.
Will the confidential report become public?
Not necessarily. An earlier UN experts’ report from July 2026 was never published after objections at the Security Council, and its contents only became known through reporting. Publication of Security Council panel reports requires agreement among committee members, and any permanent member can block it.
Key takeaways
- A confidential UN report, disclosed by The New York Times on 5 November, names the Abu Dhabi firm Global Security Services Group as the principal recruiter of hundreds of Colombian former soldiers fighting for Sudan’s RSF.
- The fighters, called the “Desert Wolves”, reportedly operated drones and artillery and trained RSF forces during the siege and capture of El Fasher, and were routed through Somalia and eastern Libya after transiting UAE facilities.
- Human Rights Watch documented the same recruitment chain in May 2026, and a UN fact-finding mission in September found “reasonable grounds to believe” a transnational network armed and staffed the RSF — without attributing the conduct to the Emirati state.
- The disclosures intensify scrutiny of the UAE’s candidate for UN secretary-general, Lana Nusseibeh, who has repeatedly denied the allegations the UN’s own investigators have documented.
- The UAE denies all of the allegations and says its involvement in Sudan is humanitarian.
What to watch next: whether the Security Council takes up the confidential report’s findings, and whether further details leak or the report is published; the outcome of the secretary-general selection process, where the Council’s straw polls are narrowing the field; and any response from Colombia, whose nationals were recruited, and from the US, which has already sanctioned the recruitment agency at the start of the chain.
