Sudan war internationalized
- A UN report says a Libyan armed group helped transfer Colombian mercenaries, weapons, and fuel into Sudan to back the Rapid Support Forces. (newarab.com) - U.S. sanctions have targeted Colombian firms and individuals over alleged links to those cross‑border deployments. (the-messenger.com) - The conflict has entered its fourth year, with nearly 9 million internally displaced and returning refugees facing dire survival conditions amid aid shortfalls. ( )
A United Nations report says a Libyan armed group helped move Colombian fighters, weapons and fuel into Sudan for the Rapid Support Forces. (abcnews.com) The report names Libya’s Subul al-Salam Battalion and says it facilitated cross-border transfers to support the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary force fighting Sudan’s army since April 15, 2023. The findings were released days after the war passed its third anniversary and entered its fourth year. (abcnews.com) The United States moved earlier against the same pipeline. On December 9, 2025, the Treasury Department sanctioned four individuals and four entities it said were recruiting former Colombian military personnel to fight for the Rapid Support Forces and training fighters, including children. (home.treasury.gov) Treasury said the network was composed mainly of Colombian nationals and companies, and the State Department said those recruits were being sent to support the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s civil war. U.S. officials described the operation as part of a transnational network rather than a purely Sudanese battlefield. (home.treasury.gov) (state.gov) That matters because the war is no longer just a two-sided fight between Sudan’s Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The latest reporting ties Libya-based actors and Colombian ex-soldiers to a conflict that has already pulled in outside money, arms routes and regional power politics. (newarab.com) (abcnews.com) The human toll kept rising as those foreign links came into sharper focus. The United Nations refugee agency said this month that about 14 million people have been forced to flee since the war began, including 9 million still displaced inside Sudan and 4.4 million who crossed borders. (unhcr.org) UN officials said one in four Sudanese is now displaced, with violence still active across Darfur, the Kordofans and Blue Nile State. They also said recent air bombardments and drone attacks have pushed more civilians from their homes. (unhcr.org) (news.un.org) Aid agencies say returns are not a clean sign of recovery. Some refugees are going back to damaged neighborhoods and scarce services because funding gaps, food shortages and insecurity in host areas leave them with few alternatives. (aljazeera.com) (reliefweb.int) The Rapid Support Forces and their foreign backers have denied or disputed parts of earlier reporting about outside support, and eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar previously denied links to the paramilitary group. But United Nations experts had already reported in 2023 that air transport from Libya was being used to support Rapid Support Forces operations. (newarab.com) Three years after fighting broke out in Khartoum, the new United Nations findings and the earlier U.S. sanctions point in the same direction: Sudan’s war is being sustained by cross-border networks even as millions of civilians run out of places to flee. (abcnews.com) (home.treasury.gov) (unhcr.org)
