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The Washington has enforced penalties on a group of four individuals and four companies charged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the sanctions on this week, the American treasury stated the network was largely composed of Colombian citizens and firms.

Hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Sudanese RSF militia, a faction linked to horrific war crimes such as targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered the previous year, after an report which disclosed that more than 300 former soldiers had been contracted to engage in combat – an discovery that prompted an unprecedented apology from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their vast combat experience resulting from decades of civil war, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. One source was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "terrible and insane" but added that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and retired Colombian military officer based in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury accused him a key part in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm linked to managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities connected to Duque conducted several money transfers, worth millions," the official announcement noted.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed said to have conducted money transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to stop giving financial and military support to the belligerents," the department said in a statement.

Analyst Commentary

A senior analyst, with the International Crisis Group, described the measures as a "highly important" step, stating that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

She added that, the Colombian government ratified a law approving the global treaty against mercenarism, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and change its security approach.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and based out of Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The UAE has been widely accused of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.