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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a group of several persons and entities accused of hiring South American contractors to support and educate a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, the American treasury stated the operation was mostly comprised of Colombian citizens and firms.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in severe violations encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged the previous year, after an inquiry which found that more than 300 retired troops had been recruited to fight – an discovery that resulted in an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have historically been seen as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from years of internal conflict, training on Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the mercenaries have reportedly trained minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary was quoted as saying that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was a retired Colombian officer, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and retired Colombian military officer located in the Dubai. The US authorities said he had a key part in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated managed a business linked to processing money and salaries for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States linked to Duque carried out numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw alleged to have money transfers connected to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to stop giving funding and arms to the warring parties," the agency said in a statement.

Reaction

A senior analyst, from a conflict think tank, labeled the actions as a "very significant" step, stating that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Bogotá recently passed a statute ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit its citizens' long history in overseas wars and reshape national security policy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, urged more caution, stating that "restrictions are needed but not enough for dealing with the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the Emirates, which is difficult to penalize," he commented. The UAE has been frequently alleged of arming the RSF, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.