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The Washington has levied restrictions on a operation of several persons and entities accused of recruiting Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan which the US alleges of genocidal acts.

Network Composition

Revealing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was largely composed of Colombian citizens and firms.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a faction linked to horrific war crimes encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The role of these mercenaries first came to light the previous year, following an investigation which disclosed that hundreds of retired troops had been recruited to engage in combat – an discovery that prompted an unprecedented apology from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from years of internal conflict, familiarity with Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the conflict, the mercenaries have reportedly trained minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. An individual involved was quoted as saying that training children was "awful and crazy" but noted that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those targeted was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer operating from the United Arab Emirates. The government said he had a key part in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated ran a firm implicated in processing money and salaries for the scheme. "Recently, US-based firms associated with Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed alleged to have wire transfers associated with Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to halt the flow of financial and military support to the warring parties," the agency announced.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, from a conflict think tank, called the actions as a "major" development, stating that "targeting the enablers is the correct approach".

She added that, the Colombian government recently passed a statute ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and transform its security approach.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from Dubai, which is difficult to penalize," he stated. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," the expert cautioned.