A Sudanese outlet says an online campaign alleging the UAE recruited Colombian mercenaries for the war in Sudan relied on a fake document and a miscaptioned video.
According to Sudanleaks, Sudanese influencer Mohamed Abdelrahman Hashim posted on Aug. 14 what he claimed was an official Emirati license tying retired Colombian colonel Álvaro Quijano Becerra to recruiting ex-soldiers for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Document reviewers cited by the outlet said the file lacked security features used in UAE Interior Ministry permits, deviated from known templates, carried inconsistent formatting and signatures, and omitted basics such as a commercial registration number and registered address. A side-by-side comparison with a genuine license, they said, indicated it was produced outside official channels.
Hashim’s posts also linked Becerra—dismissed from Colombia’s army in 2007 amid allegations tied to the Norte del Valle cartel—to a purported stint in a UAE “foreign legion” from 2010 and to a private firm, A4SI, which allegedly funneled recruits via a company named Global Security Service Group. Sudanleaks says checks of available records and open sources turned up no verifiable evidence for these claims or any Emirati role in deploying foreign fighters to Sudan.
The narrative migrated from Facebook to Italian media when Agenzia Nova reported on a clip shared on X that was presented as a “Colombian mercenary battalion” near a mosque in El Fasher, clashing with Port Sudan–aligned junta. The same storyline resurfaced around an unverified claim that an Emirati aircraft carrying Colombian fighters was struck in Nyala. Visual verification cited by Sudanleaks concluded the men in the El Fasher video were Sudanese soldiers, and Abu Dhabi has previously labeled talk of an Emirati plane downed in Sudan “baseless.”
The outlet frames the episode as part of a broader bid to cast the UAE as a proxy war manager in Sudan by circulating fabricated paperwork, invoking names without corroboration, and laundering claims through foreign platforms to confer a veneer of credibility.
It adds that the UAE publicly emphasizes regional stability and adherence to international law, and that no substantiated evidence has emerged linking Abu Dhabi or Becerra to recruiting or transporting mercenaries for the Sudan conflict.
