A powerful Gulf nation, Libya and other foreign networks allegedly fuel Sudan’s gold-backed drone war as UN probe warns of possible war crimes

Since the war erupted in April 2023, more than 14 million people have been displaced in what has become one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.

A recent United Nations fact-finding mission revealed that a transnational network involving entities in several nations has supplied the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with weapons, logistical support, and training.

The investigation also found that up to 2,000 Colombian contractors have been recruited to help maintain and operate advanced drone systems for the paramilitary forces.

These sophisticated combat drones and hovering weapons have allowed both the RSF and the Sudanese military to strike deep into civilian areas far from the active front lines.

The humanitarian toll has been catastrophic; in the first five months of 2026 alone, more than 1,000 people were killed in these drone strikes.

According to Reuters, UN investigators warn that both sides have targeted hospitals, schools, and markets, stating that “some conduct amounting to war crimes” has been committed during these drone operations.

Reuters also revealed that “investigators found grounds to believe a network involving individuals and entities in the United Arab Emirates, Chad, Libya and ​Somalia supplied the RSF with weapons, equipment, logistics, training and foreign personnel.”

As reported by Business Insider Africa, his high-tech warfare is heavily backed by Sudan’s natural resources, making it a conflict funded by illicit mineral wealth.

According to an analysis by the Africa Defense Forum, the RSF largely finances its battle for supremacy against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) by smuggling gold from Sudan’s mines directly to markets in the United Arab Emirates.\

UN experts have detailed how these gold shipments are transformed into battlefield power. Investigators wrote that “complex financial networks established by RSF before and during the war enabled it to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political and armed groups“.

This gold pipeline provides the rapid liquidity needed to buy heavy weaponry, establishing a direct link between smuggled gold and the ongoing atrocities on the ground.