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The US government has levied restrictions on a group of four individuals and four companies alleged of enlisting South American contractors to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

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

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction accused of terrible atrocities including massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters 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 resulted in an unprecedented apology from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience gleaned from decades of civil war, knowledge of Nato equipment, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the contractors have reportedly trained minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. One source was quoted as saying 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 individual with dual citizenship and former army officer based in the Dubai. The US authorities accused him a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual national who the Treasury stated managed a business linked to managing finances and payments for the network. "Over the past two years, American entities associated with Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the government release noted.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be penalized, with the company she managed said to have conducted financial transactions connected to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to cease providing funding and arms to the belligerents," the Treasury stated.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "very significant" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

She added that, Colombia ratified a law endorsing the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce years of participation by its nationals in international fights and transform domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for combating widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and operating from the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.