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The US government has enforced penalties on a operation of four individuals and four companies accused of hiring Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Announcing the measures on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a group implicated in severe violations encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged the previous year, following an inquiry which revealed that hundreds of former soldiers had been hired to participate in the war – an event that resulted in an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have historically been seen as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their vast combat experience acquired during years of internal conflict, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the contractors have been accused of teaching child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary was quoted as saying that training children was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a dual national, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and former army officer based in the Dubai. The government said he had a key part in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who officials alleged oversaw a company linked to processing money and salaries for the scheme. "Over the past two years, companies in the United States linked to Duque conducted several money transfers, worth millions," the official announcement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to cease providing financial and military support to the belligerents," the Treasury announced.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "highly important" milestone, saying that "targeting the enablers is the correct approach".

She added that, Colombia recently passed a piece of legislation ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and change domestic defense strategy.

Sean McFate, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, saying that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for combating widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The Emirati government has been widely accused of providing arms to the militia, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.