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The United States has enforced penalties on a operation of several persons and entities alleged of hiring former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Disclosing the measures on this week, the Treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in severe violations such as massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged in 2024, prompted by an report which revealed that more than 300 ex-military personnel had been recruited to fight – an discovery that led to an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from years of internal conflict, training on advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching minors, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary previously stated that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The government said he had a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual national who the Treasury stated oversaw a company implicated in handling funds and payroll for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, US-based firms associated with Duque carried out numerous wire transfers, worth millions," the government release said.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw accused of wire transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for outside forces to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the department said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, described the actions as a "highly important" step, stating that "identifying the recruiters is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Bogotá recently passed a piece of legislation approving the global treaty against mercenarism, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and reshape its security approach.

Another expert, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, saying that "restrictions are needed but not enough for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"It’s an illicit economy and centered in the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.