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The Washington has enforced penalties on a network of several persons and entities accused of recruiting South American contractors to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have allegedly journeyed to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in severe violations encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The participation of ex-soldiers initially emerged the previous year, prompted by an report which revealed that over three hundred retired troops had been hired to participate in the war – an event that resulted in an unprecedented apology from the Colombian government.

Former Colombian military have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience gleaned from years of internal conflict, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, provided drone warfare training, and fought directly on the frontlines. One source was quoted as saying that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer based in the Dubai. The US authorities said he had a central role in hiring and sending ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated managed a business implicated in managing finances and payments for the scheme. "Over the past two years, US-based firms linked to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the final person to be targeted, with the firm she operated said to have conducted money transfers associated with Duque and his operations.

"The US once more urges external actors to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the department stated.

Reaction

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "very significant" development, noting that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

It was also noted that, Colombia has enacted a law ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce years of participation by its nationals in overseas wars and reshape national security policy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for addressing rampant mercenarism".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the UAE, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.