Colombians in Sudan Show Rise of Military Contractors in Africa

Colombia’s president called last week for hundreds of mercenaries from the South American country fighting in Sudan to return home, a sign of how private military contractors have proliferated across Africa to lead the fight against armies, rebel groups and Islamist insurgents.

Popular disillusionment with long-running United Nations missions that have in many cases presided over worsening insecurity has led to tens of thousands of peacekeepers leaving in recent years. At the same time, the preference of newly installed military juntas for security partners that don’t scrutinize their democratic bonafides or human-rights records has spawned a slew of mercenary contracts, with fighters from Russia, Turkey, France and elsewhere involved in conflicts across Africa.