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The Washington has enforced penalties on a operation of several persons and entities alleged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a militia force in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Disclosing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a force accused of severe violations including targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered in 2024, following an inquiry which found that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been recruited to participate in the war – an revelation that prompted an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have historically been seen as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from decades of civil war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the Colombians have reportedly trained underage fighters, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary was quoted as saying that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities said he had a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was penalized as well.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual national who officials alleged ran a firm accused of managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, US-based firms associated with Duque conducted numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement stated.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted money transfers connected to Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the combatants," the department said in a statement.

Analyst Commentary

An expert, from a conflict think tank, called the sanctions as a "highly important" step, stating that "identifying the recruiters is the right way to go".

She added that, Colombia ratified a statute ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in international fights and reshape domestic defense strategy.

Sean McFate, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. 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.