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The United States has levied restrictions on a group of four individuals and four companies accused of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Disclosing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force implicated in severe violations encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered the previous year, after an report which disclosed that over three hundred retired troops had been recruited to participate in the war – an discovery that prompted an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have historically been seen as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the Colombians have reportedly trained underage fighters, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved previously stated that working with child soldiers was "awful and crazy" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier based in the UAE. The government accused him a central role in hiring and sending ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated oversaw a company linked to processing money and salaries for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms associated with Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the government release said.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the firm she operated accused of financial transactions associated with Duque and his businesses.

"Washington reiterates its demand for outside forces to stop giving financial and military support to the belligerents," the agency said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

An expert, from a conflict think tank, called the sanctions as a "highly important" step, stating that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, the Colombian government has enacted a law ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in foreign conflicts and change national security policy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, urged more caution, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, allegations it disputes. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.