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The United States has imposed sanctions on a group of four individuals and four companies charged of recruiting Colombian mercenaries to fight for and train a militia force in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Announcing the sanctions on this week, the American treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian citizens and firms.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in severe violations including targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered the previous year, following an investigation which found that over three hundred former soldiers had been hired to fight – an discovery that resulted in an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the contractors have allegedly instructed child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved previously stated that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but added that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier operating from the United Arab Emirates. The government said he had a central role in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual national who officials alleged managed a business linked to processing money and salaries for the scheme. "Recently, companies in the United States linked to Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release stated.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be sanctioned, with the company she managed said to have conducted money transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The US once more urges outside forces to stop giving funding and arms to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "highly important" milestone, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

Furthermore, Bogotá recently passed a piece of legislation approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and reshape domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing rampant mercenarism".

"It’s an illicit economy and based out of Dubai, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been frequently alleged of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.