At least 40 killed in Nyala airport strike as accusations fly over foreign fighters and UAE involvement in Darfur conflict.
Sudan’s state-aligned broadcaster has reported that the country’s air force destroyed a United Arab Emirates aircraft carrying Colombian mercenaries as it landed at Nyala airport in Darfur, killing at least 40 people. The airport, under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has been a repeated target of Sudanese army air strikes amid the ongoing civil war.
A military source told AFP the plane “was bombed and completely destroyed,” while the RSF has yet to comment. An Emirati official, speaking to AFP, rejected the claims, calling them false.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his government is investigating how many of its citizens died in the attack and is working to repatriate the bodies. “We will see if we can bring their bodies back,” Petro wrote on X, adding that he aims to ban mercenary activity, condemning it as “a trade in men turned into commodities to kill.”
According to Sudanese state TV, the UAE aircraft had departed from a Gulf airbase, carrying foreign fighters and military equipment for the RSF, which dominates nearly all of Darfur. The Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has long accused Abu Dhabi of supplying advanced weapons, including drones, to the RSF via Nyala — allegations the UAE denies.
Satellite imagery from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab has previously revealed Chinese-made long-range drones at the airport. UN reports have also confirmed the presence of Colombian fighters in Darfur since late 2024, with pro-army forces recently claiming more than 80 are active in the region.
The war, now in its third year, has displaced 13 million people and left Sudan facing the world’s worst hunger crisis. In el-Fasher, the last Darfur state capital under army control, thousands are trapped under siege, facing famine and a cholera outbreak, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.