On August 6, 2025, Sudan’s military local time 03:11 AM said they destroyed an aircraft at Nyala Airport in South Darfur barring that it was linked to the United Arab Emirates.
The plane onboard was marked with more than 40 Colombian nationals and described as mercenaries, carrying not only human resources but also military equipment for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
By location, Nyala Airport is in RSF territory. The RSF is a Sudanese armed group that has been in a brawl with the Sudanese regular forces since April 2023 in a civil war going on.
Besides, the Sudanese military has been charging the UAE with arming the RSF to facilitate their combat readiness since the beginning of the war.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) denied the claims made by Sudan and refuted the involvement of an Emirati aircraft in the incident. They referred to the allegations as part of a fabricated narrative aimed at them.
The government of Colombia is now trying to find out through diplomatic channels to check if there are any casualties of its nationals among the ones reported.
The Sudanese civil war had been quite lethal with the death of tens of thousands of people and causing the displacement of massive population.
Consequently, there are millions of people across the country in dire need of humanitarian aid. Darfur is the region that has suffered most from the war. Its residents have been facing starvation, various diseases, and the destruction of their dwellings.
According to the Sudanese government-owned media, the strike at Nyala airport came in the form of a strong warning.
As a deterrent, the action legitimized withdrawing support from covert agents of foreign countries, messing with the aid of Sudanese internal conflict and civil war.
