An investigation by The Sentry has lifted the veil on a shadowy and far-reaching international network linking a senior Emirati government official to the mercenary operations fueling Sudan’s bloody conflict. At the heart of this network is Mohamed Hamdan Alzaabi, an Emirati businessman whose company, Global Security Services Group (GSSG), has been accused of recruiting and supplying Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) the notorious paramilitary group accused of committing war crimes and acts of genocide across Sudan.
According to leaked corporate records obtained by The Sentry, Alzaabi is not merely acting alone. He is a business partner of Ahmed Mohamed Al Humairi, the secretary-general of the UAE’s Presidential Court. That office, often compared in stature to the White House Chief of Staff in Washington, sits at the nerve center of Emirati political power, serving President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) and chaired by his brother, Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed. The revelation that Al Humairi—an influential figure considered one of the UAE’s most powerful bureaucrats—shares private business interests with the man supplying mercenaries to a sanctioned Sudanese militia points to potential complicity at the highest levels of the Emirati state.
@santrodal
who broke the story for La Silla Vacía.
Mercenaries in Sudan’s War
As the war in Sudan grinds into its second year, El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has become the epicenter of horror. Reports from humanitarian observers describe systematic killings, mass displacement, and forced recruitment of child soldiers by the RSF. Newly gathered evidence now introduces another disturbing dimension: the presence of foreign soldiers—Colombians calling themselves the “Desert Wolves”—fighting alongside the RSF and reportedly training child combatants.
The Sentry report traces these fighters to contracts brokered through GSSG, a UAE-based firm wholly owned by Alzaabi. Internal documents show that Colombian recruits were instructed to sign strict non-disclosure agreements before deployment. These contracts further stipulate that their wages would not be paid directly by GSSG in the UAE but routed instead through a Panamanian intermediary, Global Staffing. Records reveal that Global Staffing is directed by Claudia Oliveros, the wife of former Colombian Colonel Álvaro Quijano—a man who previously served as a foreign legionary under the UAE’s military. Quijano also controls A4SI, a Colombian security company that worked in tandem with GSSG to recruit the mercenaries.
@santrodal
who broke the story for La Silla Vacía.
The Alzaabi–Al Humairi Connection
Alzaabi’s links to Al Humairi emerge from corporate filings that reveal a strikingly close business relationship extending over several years. Al Humairi currently holds 75% ownership of an Emirati information technology firm, Securetech, where Alzaabi owns 12.5%. Until 2023, both men were also major shareholders in Securiguard Middle East, one of the region’s larger private security companies. That pattern of co-ownership suggests a longstanding professional partnership—an alarming detail given the allegations of GSSG’s involvement in recruiting mercenaries for the RSF.
The Emirati Presidential Court, where Al Humairi serves as secretary-general, has been instrumental in implementing foreign policy under the close guidance of Sheikh Mansour. According to reports from The New York Times, Sheikh Mansour has played “a central role” in coordinating UAE support for the RSF, suggesting that the connection between Al Humairi and Alzaabi may not be incidental but part of a broader policy entanglement.
Calls for Accountability
The Sentry’s investigation urges an international crackdown on this network, highlighting the need for sanctions against the companies and individuals implicated in the trafficking and deployment of foreign fighters. The report calls on U.S. and European authorities—as well as the United Nations—to examine the roles played by firms registered in the UAE, Panama, and Colombia.
Analysts warn that ignoring the mercenary pipeline risks deepening Sudan’s humanitarian catastrophe and entrenching foreign influence in the conflict. “If substantiated,” one regional expert noted, “these revelations could implicate elements of the Emirati state apparatus in one of Africa’s gravest ongoing atrocities.”
For the people of Sudan, already bearing the weight of a devastating war, the presence of foreign mercenaries armed and financed through offshore financial structures means one thing: the guns may not fall silent anytime soon.
As the situation unfolds, international attention is likely to turn once again to the tangled web of private security forces, shadow businesses, and government elites profiting from human suffering. The connections between Alzaabi, Al Humairi, and the RSF expose not just a network of shared interests but a chilling glimpse into the global machinery sustaining Sudan’s war.
Credit to: Nick Donovan Winner of Fetisov Journalism Award
TheSentry.Org
