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The United States has enforced penalties on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the restrictions on Tuesday, the American treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a force accused of severe violations such as massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries first came to light last year, prompted by an investigation which disclosed that over three hundred retired troops had been recruited to fight – an revelation that prompted an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge acquired during decades of civil war, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching underage fighters, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. One source was quoted as saying that training children was "awful and crazy" but commented that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier based in the UAE. The US authorities alleged he played a key part in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who officials alleged managed a business accused of managing finances and payments for the network. "Recently, US-based firms associated with Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the official announcement stated.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be penalized, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted financial transactions linked to Duque and his businesses.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Reaction

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the measures as a "highly important" milestone, saying that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

Furthermore, the Colombian government recently passed a statute ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and transform domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, saying that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of the Emirates, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.