At a rehabilitation center outside Khartoum, six young Sudanese recounted being kidnapped and compelled to serve with the Rapid Support Forces. The Associated Press protected their identities because retaliation remained a concern. Two alleged that foreigners identified to them as Colombians provided weapons instruction.
Their stories cannot be treated as independently proven. AP said it was unable to verify the individual testimony, although other reporting aligned with important elements. A representative of Sudan's military media accompanied the reporting visit, but the agency said that official had no role in choosing whom journalists interviewed. More than 200 former child combatants were receiving support at the facility.
One interviewee, aged 17 at the time of reporting, said RSF personnel seized him in an Omdurman market two years earlier after wrongly taking him for a deserter. He described being sent into combat without prior firearms experience, injured by shrapnel and later confined at the Central Reserve Camp. According to his account, instructors described by guards as Colombian taught children to operate antiaircraft weapons. He alleged that captives were fastened to gun platforms during air raids to prevent escape.
Another teenager said he entered captivity at 15 and was held at al-Konan. He alleged that Colombians instructed boys on artillery and drones, guards brought him out to conduct bombardments, and refusal resulted in beatings. He also described an 18-year-old friend being fatally shot during an escape attempt. These are grave first-person allegations rather than adjudicated findings.
Separate material cited by AP offered broader context. Human Rights Watch and Conflict Insights Group reported Colombians operating beside the RSF in Darfur. An anonymous Colombian veteran told AP that hundreds served there during his six-month deployment in 2025 and claimed he encountered fighters as young as 13.
Rights organizations and Sudan's armed forces have accused the United Arab Emirates of assisting the RSF. AP also referenced UN tracking of weapons shipments originating in the federation. The UAE denied supplying military support, moving foreign combatants or maintaining mercenary connections. It said its inquiry found no relevant link involving the company under scrutiny, condemned violations by every side and endorsed peace efforts.
Taken together, the accounts warrant investigation into child recruitment and overseas participation. They do not, on their own, establish individual criminal responsibility or prove every alleged connection. Corroborating records, testimony gathered without military presence and independent access to the named camps would be needed for firmer conclusions.
At the event date, the available record did not resolve those outstanding questions. Subsequent independent documentation would be necessary before disputed descriptions could be stated without qualification.
