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The Washington has enforced penalties 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 that Washington accuses of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Announcing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to operate with the Sudanese RSF militia, a force accused of horrific war crimes including ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged last year, after an investigation which found that more than 300 ex-military personnel had been recruited to participate in the war – an revelation that resulted in an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience gleaned from decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Role in the Conflict

In the conflict, the Colombians have been accused of teaching minors, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "terrible and insane" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was a dual national, a individual with dual citizenship and former army officer operating from the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury said he had a key part in recruiting and deploying ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who officials alleged ran a firm linked to handling funds and payroll for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities linked to Duque carried out several money transfers, amounting to millions," the government release noted.

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

"The United States again calls on outside forces to stop giving financial and military support to the combatants," the Treasury announced.

Reaction

An expert, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "highly important" step, saying that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government recently passed a law approving the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in overseas wars and transform domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, noting that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the UAE, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.