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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a group of four individuals and four companies charged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to fight for and train a militia force in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Revealing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was primarily made up of Colombian citizens and firms.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a group linked to terrible atrocities encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light in 2024, prompted by an report which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been hired to fight – an revelation that resulted in an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Former Colombian military have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from decades of civil war, knowledge of Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the conflict, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved previously stated that training children was "terrible and insane" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a individual with dual citizenship and former army officer operating from the Dubai. The Treasury accused him a key part in enlisting and transporting mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say ran a firm accused of handling funds and payroll for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities connected to Duque carried out several money transfers, amounting to millions," the official announcement said.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be penalized, with the entity she oversaw accused of wire transfers connected to Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for foreign parties to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the department announced.

Analyst Commentary

An expert, from a conflict think tank, described the actions as a "very significant" step, stating that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

It was also noted that, Bogotá has enacted a statute endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

Sean McFate, a authority on private military contractors, urged more caution, noting that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and operating from Dubai, which is difficult to penalize," he stated. The Emirati government has been frequently alleged of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.