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The US government has enforced penalties on a network of four individuals and four companies accused of recruiting South American contractors to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the restrictions on Tuesday, the American treasury stated the operation was primarily made up of Colombian citizens and firms.

Numerous of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the Sudanese RSF militia, a faction linked to horrific war crimes encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The participation of ex-soldiers initially emerged in 2024, after an inquiry which disclosed that hundreds of retired troops had been recruited to engage in combat – an discovery that led to an unprecedented apology from the Colombian government.

Former Colombian military have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from a long-running domestic war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have reportedly trained child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved previously stated that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but noted that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer operating from the UAE. The US authorities alleged he played a key part in enlisting and transporting mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated ran a firm linked to handling funds and payroll for the recruitment operation. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities linked to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed said to have conducted money transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The US once more urges foreign parties to halt the flow of funding and arms to the belligerents," the department announced.

Analyst Commentary

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "highly important" milestone, saying that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

She added that, Bogotá recently passed a piece of legislation approving the anti-mercenary convention, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

Sean McFate, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, saying that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.