From the Andes to Darfur: Colombian mercenaries lured to Sudan's killing fields

Hundreds of Colombian ex-soldiers have been drawn to Sudan with the promise of bumper Emirati paychecks. What many found instead was death in a faraway war marked by mass killing, rape, famine and child recruitment.

An investigation has uncovered how Colombian mercenaries ended up on the other side of the world through a network of profit and silence stretching from the Andes to Darfur.

Using interviews with family members and mercenaries, corporate records and geolocation of battlefield footage, AFP can reveal how they came to bolster the ranks of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accused of genocide.

Here are some of AFP's main findings:

– Initially recruited via WhatsApp, they were brought to Sudan via the UAE, where they underwent brief training missions

– They then traveled into Sudan via at least two routes: one through UAE-loyalist eastern Libya, and another through an airbase in Bosaso, Somalia that houses Emirati military officials

– Geolocation of footage shot by the mercenaries themselves places them at the scene of some of the worst fighting in Darfur

– The former partner of a retired Colombian colonel, sanctioned by the United States, says the mission was to place 2,500 men in the RSF's ranks.

Since it erupted in 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by the war between the RSF and the army, fueled by competing regional interests including from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Foreign mercenaries have appeared on both sides of the war, mostly from African countries such as Eritrea and Chad.

But none have conducted as sophisticated an operation as the Colombians, sought after for their expertise in drone and artillery warfare.

In return, they were paid US$2,500 to U