Colombian mercenaries in Sudan:
who first accused the UAE?

Hudhud Saba · posting signature . .

A public post refers to Dabi al-Layl handling livestream backups

The writer says Al-Insirafi livestreams are being removed and that they will ask Dabi al-Layl to focus on backups. The November video sequence is later signed with that alias.

This is a chosen posting name and an internal-looking public reference, not a verified person, employment record or proof of who supplied the November videos.

A broader mercenary accusation predates the Colombian-specific claim

Sudan’s letter accuses the UAE of recruiting foreign mercenaries for the RSF. Colombia is not named in the extracted opening letter text.

Letter date is not a verified online publication time; image annexes were not exhaustively reviewed.

Colombian family testimony comes before the November video

The story describes retired Colombian soldiers and travel through Dubai before Sudan. It does not expressly accuse UAE authorities of hiring or paying them.

Published October 30 at 19:51 in Colombia; October 31 in UTC metadata.

@aishaalsayed9

An older mercenary thread later supplies historical background

The thread opens its chronology in 2011, then discusses 800 Colombians, Ricky Chambers and subsequent deployment to Yemen. Hudhud links it during the November 21 Sudan video cycle.

The same thread separately attacks UAE support for Hemedti. Proximity of those topics does not establish the Colombian-to-Sudan recruitment claim. This is not a revision of the report’s first combined allegation.

A military-branded caption lists different alleged nationalities

The caption mentions French, Emirati and Chadian mercenaries and thanks the UAE sarcastically for captured supplies. It does not identify Colombians in its text.

Date verified natively. Placement within November 21 is unresolved; the complete speech has not been translated.

Hudhud Saba · @azwyokgsbzzz

The nighttime footage predates Al Jazeera’s Facebook edit

The preserved 78-second upload shares footage and aligned audio with the later Al Jazeera video. Its caption describes captured vehicles, without naming Colombia or alleging UAE recruitment. Its visible admin signature is Dabi al-Layl (دابي الليل).

Matched frames at four offsets and strongly aligned audio support reuse. This is not a recovered camera-original file or a verified first spoken allegation. No forwarded-from source is exposed. The chosen screen name is not a verified civil identity or unique stable administrator ID.

Mojahed Alattaya · @mojahedalattaya

Telegram directly links the earlier Al Jazeera video

The caption repeats the supply-line headline and links the exact Al Jazeera Sudan Facebook video.

Facebook supplies minute-level time only, so the exact delay cannot be calculated. The Telegram text contains no UAE–Colombian recruitment allegation.

Al Jazeera Sudan · @AJA.Sudan

A separate nighttime supply-line video is already in mainstream distribution

The caption describes a cut RSF supply line without naming Colombia or alleging UAE recruitment. An Arabic-speaking contact’s assessment supplied October 26 reports Sudanese Arabic and Fur discussion of captured trucks, with no UAE mention.

UAE absence is the Arabic-speaking contact’s listening assessment, not a complete independently checked transcript. Language identification and speaker affiliation are not independently verified. The review concerns this 96-second edit, not every version of the shared footage. Facebook time is minute-level time.

@saeneen

A convoy video enters the recovered X record

The caption does not expressly name Colombia or the UAE. An Arabic-speaking contact’s assessment supplied October 26 describes mostly Fur speech, identifies Arabic words for mercenaries and traitors, and reports a highlighted UAE airport stamp.

The Arabic-speaking contact says the speech is very hard to decipher. No complete translation or word timestamps were supplied, so an explicit recruitment or payment sentence is neither established nor excluded. The stamp is the Arabic-speaking contact’s identification, not an authenticated document or proof of hiring, payment or state direction.

A statement-body version precedes the explicit opening question

This support-branded page carries five paragraphs shared with the SLM caption, naming Colombian documents and UAE currency. Its caption omits the question accusing the UAE of bringing in South Americans.

Current captions and minute-precision times do not establish historical edits, direct copying or formal Joint Force control of this page. The 2:36 player duration alone does not identify its video.

The SLM/A page explicitly alleges UAE importation of South American mercenaries

The caption opens with a rhetorical question accusing the UAE of bringing in South American mercenaries; its body identifies Colombia. This is the earliest recovered explicit written UAE–Colombian deployment allegation in the reviewed record.

Facebook displays 4:58 p.m. in the verified UTC+2 viewing environment. Seconds and historical caption edits were not obtained. Bringing in fighters is not itself a documented hiring or payment mechanism; direct transfer from this post to X is unproved.

@saeneen

The video quoted 13 minutes later is posted

The preserved 3-minute-33-second rendition contains UAE references. A supplied Arabic-speaking reviewer’s paraphrase also reads an accusation that the UAE is sending people, whose nationalities the speaker says are unknown.

A complete, independently checked Arabic transcript is still outstanding. Sending people, recruiting Colombians and paying Colombians are different propositions.

The five-paragraph body reappears without the opening accusation

The post repeats the statement’s Colombia and UAE-currency claims but not the UAE–South America opening question.

No direct transfer path, caption-edit history or complete audio translation is established.

The SLM page also publishes a shorter statement version

Three paragraphs retain the convoy account, Colombia and Emirati dirhams, with revised wording. The explicit UAE–South America opening question is absent.

The 3:37 player duration differs from the 3:33 post. Matching duration is not used to assert matching footage or an original upload.

@Kushiticwarrior

The English caption explicitly names UAE-sent Colombian mercenaries

Original X confirms a quote of the 15:02 @saeneen post. This remains the earliest recovered explicit English caption, after the SLM/A’s Arabic Facebook accusation.

The about 13 minutes X quote relationship is documented. Rapid public diffusion, shared upstream sourcing and an organized release remain competing explanations for the wider cluster. The SLM/A post precedes the English quote by about 17 minutes, but a Facebook-to-X copying path is unproved.

The three-paragraph version appears on another account

The current caption repeats the shorter SLM version and adds a supportive slogan. A 3:37 video accompanies it.

Observed wording reuse does not prove direct delivery, common administration or matching video content.

Hudhud Saba · @azwyokgsbzzz

Five clips are presented as a numbered package within 7m46s

The sequence starts at 15:24:45; the next four captions label videos 2–5. Video 3 reuses the 14:54 @saeneen clip, while video 4’s caption alleges South American mercenaries. The channel overlays its own watermark. All five posts carry the same Dabi al-Layl signature as the earlier nighttime upload.

The 154-second pair has matching sampled frames and strongly aligned audio. The package captions do not explicitly accuse the UAE of recruiting Colombians. Speech remains unresolved; the watermark does not prove filming, ownership or direct sourcing from X.

A second armed-movement account publishes separate footage

The 216-second clip begins with ammunition crates before showing documents. Its caption celebrates seized equipment without expressly naming the UAE or Colombia.

Original display 5:34 p.m., normalized from UTC+2. The public rendition is preserved; sampled frames differ from the 213-second @saeneen rendition. This is not a verified camera-original upload.

The shorter statement also travels with an image

The current post repeats the three-paragraph text naming Colombia and Emirati dirhams.

No direct copying route or historical caption version is recovered.

@yasin123ah

An Arabic post adds a recruitment and regional-conspiracy frame

The caption identifies Colombian documents and accuses the UAE of recruitment. La Silla Vacía later embeds this post.

Another publisher pairs the shorter statement with video

The caption repeats the three-paragraph version and adds a supportive slogan. The player displays 3:33.

The video is not declared identical on duration alone. Current captions do not establish direct delivery or common control.

Samaa Sudan

Samaa’s explicit recruitment caption precedes its X version

The Arabic Telegram caption alleges UAE employment of Colombians and French nationals to train Hemedti’s militias. At 20:25:50 UTC, its X account uses different wording: alleged inability to recruit more neighboring-country mercenaries, followed by recruitment of Colombians for the war in Sudan.

The website explicitly links these platform identities. Their two captions differ, and the videos are not established as identical here. This sequence does not precede the earlier SLM/A caption or prove an internal delivery route.

@samaaalsudan

A media-branded caption directly alleges UAE recruitment

The recovered caption expressly links the UAE, Colombian mercenaries and Sudan.

The publisher’s website links this X account and the Telegram channel. An explicit Telegram caption, with different wording, precedes X by about one hour. The media identity and source of the attached videos remain unverified.

The SLM/A accusation reappears in a near-identical statement

The current caption repeats the UAE–South America opening question and the multi-paragraph statement naming Colombia, with small wording differences. Two images accompany it.

Original display 11:05 p.m., normalized from UTC+2. Text reuse is observable; a direct copying route, private distribution package and historical caption versions are unverified. This post has images, not the missing earlier video package.

Hudhud Saba

Hudhud links an older X thread about UAE mercenary recruitment

Its caption repeats the 800-Colombians / Ricky Chambers / Zayed camp account and explicitly credits Aisha al-Sayed with an outbound link to her October 31 thread.

The source thread’s historical and Yemen context must be preserved. It does not independently establish recruitment of those men for Sudan.

Local news attributes the convoy account to a belligerent’s statement

Sudan Tribune’s Arabic article, dated November 21, explicitly says it obtained an SLM statement and quotes its core wording. It discusses Colombian documents and UAE transit without reproducing the opening UAE–South America question. Its English counterpart has conflicting November 21–22 date fields.

The Arabic page’s metadata conflict by one hour: 21:45:16 UTC versus 22:45:16+02:00 (20:45:16 UTC). No exact precedence over the 21:05 Facebook copy is assigned. Receipt of a statement is attributed to the outlet, not independently verified.

The Joint Force’s next-day statement separates weapons, documents and transit

The statement names Colombian documents, October passage through Al Maktoum airport and alleged UAE military ammunition. Its text does not explicitly say that the UAE recruited those Colombians.

The distinction concerns the verified caption text, not a checked complete video transcript. It should not be assigned to the previous day or treated as the source of the earlier X quote.

A Telegram summary attributes the claims to the SLM

The text names Colombian fighters and UAE currency while attributing its account to the SLM under Minawi. It omits the opening recruitment question and carries no video.

This summary is not a recovered November 20 upload or a proof of UAE recruitment.

Mojahed Alattaya · @mojahedalattaya

A direct forward follows 1 minute 55 seconds later

Telegram’s forwarded-from header links the exact Al Mashhad Sudan post, preserving the summary.

A direct public forward establishes a relay. It does not establish common ownership, payment or covert coordination.

La Silla Vacía

Colombian reporting brings in participant testimony

The article presents accounts from former soldiers about recruitment and deployment, while also referring to the November social-video evidence.

The reviewed page was modified in July 2025. Not every detail now visible can be assigned to the first edition without an archive comparison.

@YousifAlneima

An Arabic thread explicitly credits La Silla Vacía

The thread retells testimony attributed to the Colombian outlet.

La Silla Vacía

Recruitment reporting becomes a named-company story

Further reporting describes the Quijano recruitment route and the companies involved.

A post points readers to an Al Jazeera translation

The caption explicitly describes Al Jazeera–Sudan publishing a translation of La Silla Vacía and attaches screenshots.

A Western investigation connects the contractor to Abu Dhabi

The newspaper names Global Security Services Group and describes interviews and company records behind its recruitment allegation.

A company’s location and client list are analytically distinct from proof of state instructions.

Geolocation adds a narrower, independently testable result

Bellingcat traces a contractor’s social footage to Libya and credits La Silla’s testimony as a lead. It cannot geolocate the ambush footage or establish the missing man’s fate.

Spanish TikTok connects the story to a wider anti-imperialist argument

The caption alleges UAE and U.S. funding of the RSF and promotes a podcast discussion.

Caption verified in the reviewed record; the complete video has not been transcribed. Earliest explicit TikTok caption in the reviewed record, not the platform’s first.

La Silla Vacía

Desert Wolves reporting extends the operational account

The Colombian outlet develops its reporting on the organization and routes of the former soldiers.

@kraray224466, crediting Mansour

A Sudanese pro-army channel republishes a Mansour-credited summary

The post names La Silla Vacía upstream and credits Mansour for an Arabic account of Colombian recruitment.

Public credit is documented; direct delivery from Mansour to the administrator is not.

@yasin123ah, crediting Mansour

Sudan’s conflict is framed as a regional cause

Yasin’s caption promotes a video attributed to Mansour and links Sudan’s confrontation with UAE influence to Yemen, Libya and Somalia.

This assessment concerns the caption, not an independently translated full speech.

Sudanese Support Authority

A original forward takes Hudhud’s anti-UAE Sudan content to another channel

The forwarded caption includes the hashtag “the UAE kills Sudanese.” Its original header identifies Hudhud post 38030 as the source. Hudhud later forwards Mohammed al-Toum’s denial from this channel on May 15.

Reciprocal forwards establish content distribution, not shared administrators, funding, formal Brotherhood membership or direction of the November 2024 release.

Hudhud Saba, forwarding Mohammed al-Toum

An Islamist-affiliation denial is forwarded with its original author visible

The original header links a 02:33:20 UTC post in the Sudanese Support Authority channel. Mohammed al-Toum’s text rejects Kizan/Brotherhood accusations and denies Islamist ties.

This is not a verified personal membership denial by Hudhud’s unidentified owner. Forwarding does not prove common ownership or party control.

@RassdNewsN

The Gaza video and lead caption are already published by Rassd

The preserved approximately 66-second edit carries Rassd’s watermark and the same captions seen later in Yasin’s and Hudhud’s versions. Matching frames were checked at 5, 15, 30 and 45 seconds.

This is the earliest version recovered in this focused comparison, not a camera-original claim. Reuse does not prove direct delivery from Rassd or political tasking.

@yasin123ah

A recurring Sudan amplifier adds Sudan to the Gaza package

Yasin posts the same Rassd-branded edit 44m56s later. His caption includes “the UAE kills Sudanese” and “the UAE sponsors terrorism” hashtags. He had already published the explicit Colombia-recruitment accusation on November 21, 2024.

This supports a recurring-amplifier finding. Hudhud’s copy follows the next day; the private transfer path and a common director remain unproved.

Hudhud Saba · @azwyokgsbzzz

A Gaza video already carries an explicit UAE accusation over Sudan

The current caption alleges UAE involvement in Gaza and includes hashtags accusing the UAE of being a terrorist state and killing civilians in both Sudan and Gaza.

These are the publisher’s accusations, not findings established by the video. Historical caption edits were not obtained. This example does not specifically name Colombian fighters.

Hudhud Saba · @azwyokgsbzzz

The channel explicitly asks X and TikTok users to make a video trend

The request replies to the Gaza video whose original caption already accuses the UAE over Sudan. A 07:38:19 follow-up repeats Sudan/Gaza accusations in hashtags.

The video concerns Gaza and its caption explicitly includes Sudan; it does not specifically name Colombians. The request does not establish that users complied, a measured trend or private November 2024 tasking.

The UAE characterizes accusations as a propaganda campaign

The ministry rejects accusations from the Port Sudan authorities and advocates a ceasefire and civilian-led process.

Reuters fact-check, republished by MyJoyOnline

A specific viral clip is traced to Estonia

The fact-check identifies a military-exercise video as having been misrepresented as Colombian fighters in Sudan.

This concerns a separate clip, not the May photograph or the November convoy video.

A government allegation gains a UN document number

S/2025/555 alleges a Colombian recruitment and UAE-linked support network.

The document was technically reissued October 24, 2025.

Sanctions identify a transnational recruitment network

Treasury names Colombian recruiters and facilitators and a central individual based in the UAE. The statement does not name the UAE government or GSSG as sanctioned organizers.

Mansour on X and Facebook

One sanctions commentary appears on two platforms

The reviewed X and Facebook captions match across 249 normalized words and cite Reuters and Treasury.

Facebook displays the same date; its precise minute and the direction of transfer are unresolved.

Karari, crediting Mansour

The relay carries a call to sustain online pressure

The credited text praises Sudanese activity on X and urges continued morale and messaging.

Karari headline roundup

Yemen and Sudan are presented as one struggle

The roundup attributes a shared-enemy and shared-victory formulation to Mansour.

CIG / Janet McElligott

An investigative report becomes a short-video headline

CIG’s April report describes more than 50 devices and three representative cases. McElligott’s TikTok caption calls the connection indisputable.

The researcher’s raw device evidence was not obtained or independently audited; the full video is not transcribed.

Mansour on Facebook

Mansour explicitly names the same research source

The Facebook post explicitly cites CIG and its device-tracking analysis.

Press TV

An Iranian outlet relays BBC reporting on CIG

The article explicitly credits the BBC and CIG while foregrounding an allegation of UAE payment and atrocities.

The later X photograph already carries an Ethiopia allegation

A original Facebook caption blames Ethiopia for drone launches by international and local soldiers. The same scene appears in the later X allegation.

Actual nationality, location, date photographed and employer are unverified. Exact post minute was not obtained.

The photo is labeled Colombian RSF mercenaries

The caption identifies the pictured people as Colombian RSF mercenaries and attacks civilian political opponents. It does not name the UAE.

@anesmansory

Mansour combines the photo, a UAE allegation and a political retort

The caption alleges that the UAE brings Colombians to Darfur and attacks people invoking Kizan and the Brotherhood.

@Huseinalfdl

Hussein repeats nearly the same wording and the same image

The caption has Nearly identical wording to Mansour’s and adds hashtags. Its photograph is a separate compressed variant of the same scene.

A common earlier source remains possible. Facebook also carries substantially the same wording that day; its minute is unknown.

Human Rights Watch

An institutional investigation adds testimony and document analysis

HRW presents interviews, records and geolocated visual material behind its allegations about GSSG and UAE military facilities.

A recognizable report-launch wave spreads across accounts

HRW publishes on TikTok; Caracol, RFI, Al Mayadeen and Democracy Now captions identify HRW as a source during the same launch period.

A report launch is not, by itself, a covert campaign. Most full videos have not been transcribed.

IFRD

A public campaign names its organizer and policy demands

IFRD names Andi Shehu as advocacy lead and calls for sanctions, parliamentary action and conditions on EU–UAE trade.

Current funding and party control are not established.

IFRD

The organization says it asked the ICC prosecutor to investigate

IFRD announces an Article 15 communication naming Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and an alleged support network.

The original communication and a court acknowledgment were not obtained.

The Lens

An Instagram headline makes the Court the apparent pursuing actor

The caption’s headline describes ICC pursuit, while its body names IFRD’s complaint. The accompanying graphic itself describes a complaint.

Retrieved date: July 5. Original display: July 6. Exact intermediary and direct copying path are unresolved.

An adopted resolution becomes an advocacy success claim

The official record confirms the El-Obeid resolution passed 476–28, with 96 abstentions. IFRD celebrates it as a campaign outcome.

Belqees

Reuters’s draft-UN-report story reaches Arabic Instagram

Belqees explicitly credits Reuters. The reporting concerns a draft Security Council Panel of Experts report, not the later Human Rights Council mission report.

@janet.mce

The same publisher returns to the allegation

A second original TikTok caption again alleges UAE responsibility for Colombian mercenaries and El-Fasher.

Record date August 12; original label August 13. This does not establish another account’s involvement.

An Instagram caption credits Financial Times reporting

The caption names the Financial Times as the source for a GSSG recruitment and deployment account.

The reviewed caption is verified; a first-edition comparison with the FT original remains outstanding.

@Huseinalfdl

Public ideological support, with an explicit membership denial

Hussein praises the Brotherhood and Islah while saying he loves the Brotherhood and is not one of them.

This statement postdates the May copying episode.

The fact-finding mission assesses external support networks

A/HRC/63/23 discusses Colombian recruitment, UAE-linked entities and facilities, preserves the UAE’s denial and gives the mission’s contrary assessment.

Advance unedited report; investigative findings are not criminal convictions or proof that every UAE-based actor acted on state orders.

A shareable dossier bundles institutional and media sources

The post credits KoshCivilzatio, asks for wide distribution and distinguishes UN investigations, government submissions and UAE denials.

The credited upstream original was not retrieved. The displayed 2.5K shares are not unique people or measured impact.

The allegation reaches a formal policy briefing

The commission lists CIG’s Justin Lynch as a speaker. His published remarks advocate restrictions on arms sales and action against RSF networks, while also addressing SAF conduct and other foreign backers.