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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a network of several persons and entities charged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan which the US alleges of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

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

Scores of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to Sudan to operate with the Sudanese RSF militia, a faction linked to terrible atrocities such as massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light last year, prompted by an inquiry which found that over three hundred former soldiers had been hired to engage in combat – an event that resulted in an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience gleaned from decades of civil war, knowledge of Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the contractors have been accused of teaching minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved was quoted as saying that training children was "terrible and insane" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and retired Colombian military officer based in the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a key part in hiring and sending mercenaries 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 oversaw a company linked to handling funds and payroll for the scheme. "Over the past two years, US-based firms connected to Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement stated.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated alleged to have wire transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for outside forces to cease providing funding and arms to the combatants," the agency stated.

Reaction

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "highly important" step, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Colombia recently passed a law endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and transform domestic defense strategy.

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

"This is a shadow economy and operating from Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," McFate warned.