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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a group of four individuals and four companies accused of hiring South American contractors to fight for and train a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Network Composition

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

Numerous of former Colombian military personnel have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction linked to severe violations such as massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered the previous year, following an report which revealed that more than 300 retired troops had been hired to participate in the war – an revelation that led to an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from decades of civil war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and superior tactical education.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the contractors have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. An individual involved previously stated that working with child soldiers was "awful and crazy" but noted that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The US authorities said he had a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual national who the Treasury stated oversaw a company linked to managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Recently, American entities connected to Duque conducted several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted financial transactions linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "very significant" step, saying that "identifying the recruiters is the right way to go".

She added that, Colombia recently passed a statute ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and change domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing rampant mercenarism".

"It’s an illicit economy and centered in Dubai, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.