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The United States has enforced penalties on a group of four people and four firms accused of recruiting South American contractors to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group which the US alleges of acts of genocide.

Network Composition

Revealing the sanctions on this week, the Treasury stated the operation was mostly comprised of Colombian citizens and firms.

Hundreds of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a group linked to horrific war crimes such as massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The role of these mercenaries first came to light last year, after an inquiry which found that more than 300 retired troops had been contracted to fight – an event that resulted in an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Former Colombian military have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from a long-running domestic war, knowledge of Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have been accused of teaching underage fighters, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary previously stated that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those targeted was a dual national, a individual with dual citizenship and former army officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities alleged he played a key part in recruiting and deploying ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated managed a business linked to processing money and salaries for the network. "Over the past two years, US-based firms connected to Duque carried out several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his companies.

"Washington reiterates its demand for foreign parties to halt the flow of financial and military support to the combatants," the Treasury announced.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "highly important" milestone, saying that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Bogotá ratified a piece of legislation ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, aiming to curb decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, stating that "restrictions are needed but not enough for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.