UN experts find Boeing aircraft identified by Reuters transported weapons and fighters for Sudan's RSF

United Nations experts have determined that Boeing 727 aircraft previously identified in a Reuters investigation transported weapons, drones, mercenaries and fighters for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to a draft report by the UN Panel of Experts on the Sudan reviewed by Reuters (reuters.com).

The draft report, due to be published in September after Security Council review, states: “The Panel received reliable information from four sources that the aircraft had transported RSF fighters and mercenaries, as well as military equipment, including drones and weapons.” Sources included two eyewitnesses in Nyala, the RSF’s main military and logistics hub in Darfur, and communications from two member states (reuters.com).

The findings add detail to a July 15 Reuters investigation that traced three aging Boeing aircraft operated by companies linked to Steven Shaulis, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier and longtime U.S. government contractor, from an airport in Chad to RSF logistics hubs in Sudan, Libya and Somalia (reuters.com). One Boeing 737 linked to the network was destroyed by Sudanese military strikes at Nyala airport in May 2025 with RSF fighters among those killed, according to that earlier reporting.

The UN panel identified three Boeing 727s—one sold in Brazil to a Shaulis-linked company and two acquired from Michigan-based Kalitta Charters II—that appeared in Chad from November 2024 and operated from the military apron of N’Djamena’s airport. The panel noted no movement by the planes had been logged since arrival and suspected they were taking “deliberate steps to avoid detection while in flight.” Between January and July 2026, multiple Boeing 727s and some Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes landed in Nyala at night, the report said. “The RSF utilized the N’Djamena-Nyala air corridor to transport fighters, foreign mercenaries, and military equipment, including drones and weapons, into Darfur,” it stated (reuters.com).

Reuters had tracked the Boeings using satellite imagery, cell phone data and open-source video but found no records on independent flight trackers. Shaulis and business partner Craig Munro are joint owners of Contractor Airways, the South African company that bought two of the 727s from Kalitta, according to records. Munro previously told Reuters that Contractor Airways had no connection to the RSF and that reports of landings in Nyala and Kufrah, Libya, were false to the best of his knowledge. Kalitta’s attorney said the company conducted extensive due diligence before the sales with no sanctions flags. Chad’s Civil Aviation Authority stated none of the Boeings had authorization to operate from Chad and that it does not manage military aviation (reuters.com).

Shaulis did not respond to questions about the UN report and had previously declined comment on his companies or the planes. The RSF did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters found no evidence that Shaulis or his companies have been sanctioned or accused of wrongdoing by authorities.

The panel’s work monitors the arms embargo on Darfur imposed in 2004. Sudan’s civil war began in 2023 after the army and RSF clashed over integration plans during a failed transition to civilian rule. The conflict has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with the RSF accused by UN investigators of genocide in Darfur (reuters.com).

The draft report also addresses Colombian mercenaries known as the Desert Wolves, estimating 1,500-2,000 men hired by UAE-based Global Security Services Group (GSSG) who set up a base in Nyala in March 2025, operated drones and participated in the siege of al-Fashir. A UAE mission spokesperson said authorities investigated GSSG and found it not involved in mercenary activity in Sudan and acting in compliance with law. Colombia has previously apologized for the presence of its nationals as mercenaries.