Colombia, Dec 22, 2025 (AFP) – Hundreds of Colombian ex-soldiers have been drawn to Sudan with the promise of bumper paychecks, according to an investigation by AFP.

The investigation has uncovered how Colombian mercenaries ended up on the other side of the world through a network stretching from the Andes to Darfur.

Using interviews with family members and mercenaries, corporate records and geolocation of battlefield footage, AFP said it was able to reveal how they came to bolster the ranks of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accused of genocide.

Some of the findings revealed that the mercenaries were initially recruited via WhatsApp, AFP said.

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The report added that geolocation of footage shot by the mercenaries themselves placed them at the scene of some of the worst fighting in Darfur.

According to the former partner of a retired Colombian colonel, sanctioned by the United States, the mission was to place 2,500 men in the RSF’s ranks.

Documents and testimonies obtained by AFP point to retired Colombian colonel Alvaro Quijano as the figure behind the recruitment.

AFP said that on December 9, the United States sanctioned four Colombian nationals and their companies for their role in the transnational network.

Since it erupted in 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by the war between the RSF and the army.

The Colombians are sought after for their expertise in drone and artillery warfare, AFP said.

In return, they were paid $2,500 to $4,000 a month, according to one former soldier, up to six times their army pension.

Colombian support
For months, fighters had besieged the army’s last stronghold, al-Fashir.

Though the RSF reportedly commands tens of thousands of fighters, most are low-skilled foot soldiers.

“Supported by Colombian fighters,” according to the United States, the RSF finally captured al-Fashir in October, amid evidence of mass killings, abductions and rape.

Videos verified and geolocated by AFP show Colombians in and around the city before the takeover.

In one clip, they drive past the charred ruins of Zamzam camp, listening to reggaeton. “It’s all destroyed,” says a man with a Colombian accent.

The camp was overrun in April; more than 400,000 people fled and up to 1,000 were killed in what survivors said were ethnic massacres.

Other images show the same man posing with boys holding assault rifles. In another, his comrades teach a fighter to fire a rocket launcher.

A militia allied with the army says up to 80 Colombians joined the siege from August.

Sudanese army-aligned authorities claim at least 43 were killed.

Colombia’s foreign ministry says an unspecified number were “tricked” by trafficking networks into going to Sudan.

Sources denied to AFP any use of mercenaries by RSF in the Sudan war.