A report by the UN panel of experts on Sudan, submitted on January 13, revealed links between Khalifa Haftar's forces in Libya and Darfur rebels in Sudan, adding that the Darfur rebel fighters used to get massive military support from Haftar before entering battlefields in Libya.

The report said that about 200 Land Cruiser vehicles were given by Haftar to Darfur rebels last June and then tens others in September, to prepare defense for Sirte and Jufra in central Libya.

"Sudanese rebel movements, whose fighters are operating in Libya fighting for Haftar’s forces, have gained all kinds of support such as anti-aircraft, and anti-tank artillery, including missiles and machine-guns." The UN report reads.

It adds that Saddam Haftar was the main contractor and boss of the Darfur rebels fighting for his father in Libya, saying Saddam held meetings with them in Benghazi, while the Secretary General of Haftar’s General Command Abdelkarim Hadiya and Cheif of Staff, Abdelrazik Al-Nathori also held meetings with them.

The UAE, Haftar's main backer, was reported by the UN panel of experts as having direct links to the Darfur rebels in Libya for over a year, while rebels said in the report that some of their senior leaders met with UAE military officers in Benghazi in last September and November.

"The meetings focused on logistical and financial needs of the Darfur armed factions and how the UAE can help. In the last week of November, a number of UAE military officers visited the Darfur rebels' camps in Jufra in central Libya." The report says.

This isn't the first UN report to unveil links between Haftar and Sudanese or other countries' armed rebel movements, as Haftar has been using their assistance in fighting since the beginning of his military operation in eastern Libya in 2014.