Libya fueled war in Sudan with Colombian mercenaries and equipment, UN report finds

CAIRO (AP) — An armed group in Libya helped the transfer of former Colombian military personnel to fight with the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group against the Sudanese military, according to a United Nations report released days after the third anniversary of the start of the war in Sudan.

Libya's Subul al-Salam Battalion facilitated the transfer of recruits, including Colombian mercenaries, weapons and fuel across the border to support the RSF, adding to the chaos of the devastating conflict.

The battalion was part of the self-styled Libyan National Army, commanded by powerful Gen. Khalifa Hifter, that runs eastern and southern parts of chaos-stricken Libya. It activities centered in the southern town of Kufra, which borders Sudan, Chad and Egypt. It controls crucial facilities, including an airport, which helped transfer arms and fighters to the RSF, the experts said.

The report of the U.N.'s Panel of Experts on Libya, which covered October 2024 to February 2026, was released on Sunday.

The war in Sudan broke out on April 15, 2023, when a power struggle between the military and RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the sprawling country.

The U.N. report detailed the benefits the RSF obtained through Libya, including a rear base about 75 kilometers (46.6 miles) southwest of Kufra.

The Sudanese paramilitary group also benefited from an airbase in Kufra and other facilities that were used as transit points for Colombian fighters and as sites for the modification of vehicles imported through Libya, the experts found.

The U.N. experts said the battalion supported RSF operations in June 2025 through deploying units on the ground, providing fighters and “escorting them across Libyan territory and facilitating access to fuel and spare vehicle parts.”

Its support helped the RSF to advance on the Uwaynat area, a border triangle where Sudan, Egypt and Libya meet, but “weakened border security in southern Libya,” the report said.

A spokesperson for RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Subul al-Salam Battalion was not reachable for comment.

The RSF said in June that controlled the triangle zone after the Sudanese military said it evacuated the area as part of “its defensive arrangements to repel aggression.” The miliary has accused Hifter’s forces of aiding the RSF’s attack on the area — a claim denied by the Libyan commander.

Both Hifter’s forces and the RSF received support from the United Arab Emirates, according international rights groups. The UAE has long denied the accusations.

In recent months, the miliary also sought to disrupt the RSF, Libya-originated supply route. It launched airstrikes in November that targeted shipments of vehicles and foreign fighters inside Libya, which were heading to the paramilitaries, the report said.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Colombian firms and individuals over alleged links to the deployment of former Colombian officers to fight alongside the RSF in Sudan into famine and created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

The war has killed at least 59,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a U.S.-based war tracking group that says its toll is almost certainly an undercut given difficulties in reporting.