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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a group of four people and four firms charged of enlisting South American contractors to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Announcing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was largely composed of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to Sudan to fight alongside the RSF paramilitary group, a force linked to terrible atrocities encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light the previous year, prompted by an inquiry which revealed that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been recruited to participate in the war – an discovery that led to an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their vast combat experience resulting from years of internal conflict, familiarity with Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the contractors have reportedly trained child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary was quoted as saying that instructing minors was "terrible and insane" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those penalized was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer based in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities alleged he played a pivotal function in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say oversaw a company implicated in managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, companies in the United States connected to Duque conducted numerous wire transfers, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement said.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted financial transactions linked to Duque and his operations.

"The US once more urges external actors to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the department announced.

Analyst Commentary

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "very significant" development, stating that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

She added that, Colombia has enacted a law ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the Emirates, which is difficult to penalize," he stated. The UAE has been widely accused of arming the RSF, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.