Sudan targets airport controlled by RSF in fatal airstrike
On August 7th, Sudanese officials stated that an airstrike hit Nyala airport in the Darfur region of Sudan, destroying an aircraft and killing dozens of suspected mercenaries, according to the Associated Press.
Nyala airport is controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group whom the Sudanese military has been locked in a violent civil war with since April 2023. The group is aiming to control the entire region of Darfur, seizing the airport in 2024.
The aircraft destroyed during the attack is a suspected Emirati military craft, and the strike also destroyed a shipment of arms and equipment that were sent by the UAE to the Rapid Support Forces, stated two Sudanese military officials and an advisor to a rebel leader aligned with the RSF.
Sudan TV, which is run by the Sudanese government, has reported that the military aircraft had taken off from a military base in the Arab Gulf region, and described the attack on the airport as a “blatant message” and a “new equation of deterrence” against foreign interference in the war in Sudan.
The UAE’s Foreign Ministry responded in an email statement to the Associated Press, denying the accusation made and labelling them as “unfounded allegations” that “lack any evidentiary basis.”
They also described the allegation as part of the Sudan government’s “ongoing campaign of disinformation and deflection.”
On August 4th, the Sudanese government’s foreign ministry accused the UAE of sending mercenaries from Colombia and multiple unnamed African nations into Sudan to fight for the RSF, which the UAE foreign affairs ministry also denied.
The Sudanese government cut all ties and relations with the UAE early in 2025 after alleging that they supported the RSF.
At least 40 people were killed in the attack on August 7th, who are suspected of being mercenaries from Colombia- in response to these reports, Colombia President Gustavo Petro posted on X that he had ordered an investigation into the mercenaries killing.
It was confirmed in April by a United Nations report that Colombian mercenaries hired by a private security firm to support the RSF were present in the Darfur region.
In response to the UN report, the Colombian Foreign Ministry established a special immediate response group to safely return Colombian nationals.
The Associated Press/Maghrebi
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