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The United States has enforced penalties on a operation of four individuals and four companies alleged of recruiting South American contractors to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Revealing the sanctions on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the network was primarily made up of Colombian citizens and firms.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to Sudan to fight alongside the Sudanese RSF militia, a force linked to severe violations encompassing targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged the previous year, following an investigation which revealed that hundreds of retired troops had been hired to participate in the war – an revelation that led to an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience resulting from decades of civil war, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the contractors have reportedly trained child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary remarked that training children was "awful and crazy" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those penalized was a dual national, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The Treasury accused him a key part in hiring and sending ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual national who officials alleged oversaw a company accused of managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities connected to Duque conducted numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw accused of wire transfers linked to Duque and his companies.

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

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, from a conflict think tank, described the measures as a "very significant" step, noting that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

She added that, Bogotá recently passed a law endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit years of participation by its nationals in international fights and change its security approach.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It’s an illicit economy and operating from the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The UAE has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.