Foreign recruitment and external support networks are fueling Sudan’s war, strengthening the military capabilities of rival forces and worsening the toll on civilians, a United Nations report has revealed.

According to the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, transnational networks have recruited, trained and deployed foreign personnel to support the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while facilitating the transfer of weapons, ammunition, military technology and logistical support.

Furthermore, it revealed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) used foreign-supplied drones in attacks that harmed civilians and civilian infrastructure in the country.

So far, the report reveals that up to 2,000 former Colombian military contractors have operated combat drones, artillery and advanced weapons alongside RSF units in Darfur and Kordofan.

It further said supply networks, with transit points in Chad, southeastern Libya and Bosaso in Somalia, helped deliver personnel, weapons, training and logistical support to the RSF.

Among the attacks documented were RSF drone strikes in South Kordofan that killed 114 people, including about 60 children, and SAF strikes in East Darfur that killed at least 70 people and destroyed a major hospital.

In light of the findings, the UN warned that attacks on civilians and civilian objects could constitute war crimes and called on states to enforce the Darfur arms embargo, investigate networks involved in illicit military support, and halt transfers where there is a substantial risk of serious violations.