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The US government has levied restrictions on a group of four individuals and four companies charged of hiring former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the restrictions on this week, the Treasury stated the network was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Numerous of former Colombian military personnel have reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force linked to horrific war crimes encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters first came to light the previous year, after an investigation which revealed that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been hired to engage in combat – an discovery that led to an unprecedented apology from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during years of internal conflict, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary previously stated that training children was "terrible and insane" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was a dual national, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier located in the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a key part in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual national who authorities say ran a firm accused of managing finances and payments for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities linked to Duque carried out numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement noted.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be sanctioned, with the firm she operated said to have conducted financial transactions associated with Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

An expert, from a conflict think tank, described the measures as a "major" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, the Colombian government recently passed a law approving the global treaty against mercenarism, seeking to reduce years of participation by its nationals in foreign conflicts and change domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating rampant mercenarism".

"It operates in the black market and operating from Dubai, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The Emirati government has been frequently alleged of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.