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The Washington has enforced penalties on a group of several persons and entities charged of hiring former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of acts of genocide.

Group Makeup

Announcing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to combat beside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force implicated in terrible atrocities such as ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries first came to light the previous year, prompted by an report which revealed that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been hired to participate in the war – an revelation that resulted in an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience acquired during years of internal conflict, knowledge of advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the Colombians have been accused of teaching child soldiers, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary remarked that instructing minors was "terrible and insane" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and former army officer located in the Dubai. The government accused him a key part in enlisting and transporting 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 ran a firm accused of managing finances and payments for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States associated with Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the official announcement stated.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be targeted, with the company she managed accused of wire transfers associated with Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for outside forces to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the warring parties," the agency stated.

Reaction

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "highly important" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, Bogotá has enacted a law ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, aiming to curb decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and transform domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he stated. The UAE has been widely accused of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.