Despite official promises to investigate, Colombian mercenaries continue to fight in Sudan’s civil war—and are now reportedly active in Somalia’s Puntland region as well.

At the end of 2024, the Colombian government publicly committed to investigating reports that hundreds of its retired soldiers were recruited to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group accused of war crimes. However, a March 2025 investigation by La Silla Vacía revealed that the number of Colombian fighters in Sudan has actually increased, with two new full companies arriving since December.

Leaked military documents obtained by the outlet, including an 18-page classified RSF order file, confirm the deployment of Colombian units in Al Fasher, North Darfur—a region under international scrutiny for civilian massacres and humanitarian blockades.

But the conflict may not be limited to Sudan. According to testimony from a returned mercenary, the route to Sudan now includes strategic stops in Madrid, Ethiopia, Bosaso (Somalia), N’Djamena (Chad), and finally Nyala, where fighters land at the city’s airport. The port city of Bosaso in Somalia’s Puntland region, long known for smuggling routes and private security operations, has reportedly become a staging area for some of these foreign fighters.

Local sources in Puntland tell HornPulse that small teams of Spanish- and Arabic-speaking men have been seen training or assisting security forces in the Bosaso area—raising concerns that Colombian mercenaries may now be operating or training in Somalia as well, either independently or in coordination with Emirati-backed networks.

The retired soldiers, many of whom were lured with promises of static security jobs in the Middle East, say they were deceived and forced into frontline combat roles. “We signed for oil infrastructure protection,” one anonymous mercenary told HornPulse, “but ended up fighting in desert trenches with RSF forces.”

The Colombian government has yet to publicly comment on these new developments. Meanwhile, families of those still deployed are calling for repatriation efforts and legal action against the firms involved in recruitment—including Global Security Service Group, a UAE-based company allegedly at the center of this shadowy mercenary pipeline.

As the wars in Sudan and Somalia escalate, the foreign presence of Colombian soldiers-for-hire raises urgent questions about accountability, legality, and the growing privatization of war in the Horn of Africa.