Sudan’s military authorities have accused foreign fighters from several countries, including Somalia’s Puntland region, of taking part in the ongoing conflict alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The allegation was made by Lieutenant General Yasser Al-Atta, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, during an address to military units in Khartoum.
He claimed that Sudan was facing the involvement of foreign combatants from countries including South Sudan, Niger, Chad, Ethiopia and Colombia, as well as what he described as northern Somalia, specifically Puntland.
Al-Atta portrayed the conflict as a confrontation involving external forces, arguing that foreign fighters had joined the RSF in the war against Sudan’s national army.
However, his remarks did not provide specific evidence or details identifying the alleged Puntland-linked fighters, and the claims have not been independently verified.
The Sudanese general also sought to distinguish the military campaign from a conflict against particular ethnic communities.
Referring to Darfur and Kordofan, he said the army valued the regions and regarded their different communities as an important part of Sudanese society.
He stressed that the military did not intend to pursue collective punishment or retaliate against local populations, but was instead targeting what he described as foreign combatants fighting alongside the RSF.
Al-Atta further accused the United Arab Emirates and Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, of involvement in what he characterised as foreign efforts to undermine Sudan.
He said the Sudanese military was fighting to counter external interference and alleged plots against the country. These accusations were presented by the military official but were not substantiated with evidence in the remarks.
The allegations involving Puntland are particularly significant because they raise questions about whether individuals from the Somali region are participating in Sudan’s conflict.
Nevertheless, the statement alone does not establish the scale of any such involvement, the identities of those allegedly recruited or whether they have formal links to any political or security institution in Puntland.
Sudan’s war began in April 2023 following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.
The fighting has developed into a devastating conflict, drawing in regional and international actors through competing political interests, military support and allegations of foreign involvement.
The latest accusations underline the increasingly international dimension of the war, although claims about foreign combatants and external support require independent verification before they can be treated as established facts.