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The United States has levied restrictions on a group of four individuals and four companies alleged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Revealing the measures on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was largely composed of Colombian citizens and firms.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a faction linked to terrible atrocities such as massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Revelation of Role

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged the previous year, prompted by an investigation which disclosed that over three hundred retired troops had been recruited to engage in combat – an event that led to an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience gleaned from decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the Colombians have allegedly instructed child soldiers, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved previously stated that working with child soldiers was "awful and crazy" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was a retired Colombian officer, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier operating from the United Arab Emirates. The government alleged he played a key part in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual national who authorities say managed a business linked to processing money and salaries for the network. "Recently, US-based firms linked to Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the official announcement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw accused of wire transfers linked to Duque and his businesses.

"The US once more urges outside forces to halt the flow of financial and military support to the combatants," the Treasury said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "major" milestone, saying that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

It was also noted that, Colombia ratified a law endorsing the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and transform its security approach.

Sean McFate, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating rampant mercenarism".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he stated. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.