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The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of four individuals and four companies accused of hiring former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the measures on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian citizens and firms.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF paramilitary group, a force linked to terrible atrocities such as massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters first came to light the previous year, prompted by an investigation which disclosed that more than 300 retired troops had been contracted to fight – an revelation that resulted in an unprecedented apology from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from years of internal conflict, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the Colombians have reportedly trained minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. One source was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "terrible and insane" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier based in the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated managed a business implicated in handling funds and payroll for the network. "Over the past two years, American entities connected to Duque carried out several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be penalized, with the company she managed said to have conducted money transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The US once more urges outside forces to cease providing financial and military support to the warring parties," the Treasury said in a statement.

Analyst Commentary

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "major" milestone, saying that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

She added that, the Colombian government has enacted a law ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in international fights and change national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the Emirates, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been frequently alleged of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.