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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a network of four people and four firms charged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to fight for and train a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Announcing the restrictions on this week, the American treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Numerous of former Colombian military personnel have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction accused of terrible atrocities encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered in 2024, following an report which disclosed that more than 300 retired troops had been recruited to fight – an discovery that resulted in an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience resulting from a long-running domestic war, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have been accused of teaching child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary was quoted as saying that training children was "terrible and insane" but added that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and former army officer based in the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a pivotal function in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual national who the Treasury stated oversaw a company accused of handling funds and payroll for the scheme. "Over the past two years, US-based firms connected to Duque engaged in several money transfers, worth millions," the official announcement noted.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be penalized, with the company she managed alleged to have money transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"Washington reiterates its demand for foreign parties to stop giving funding and arms to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, with the International Crisis Group, described the measures as a "highly important" step, noting that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

It was also noted that, Bogotá has enacted a statute ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and transform national security policy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"It’s an illicit economy and operating from the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he stated. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," the expert cautioned.