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The Washington has enforced penalties on a network of several persons and entities accused of enlisting former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the sanctions on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the operation was largely composed of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in terrible atrocities encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered last year, after an inquiry which revealed that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been hired to engage in combat – an event that resulted in an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from a long-running domestic war, knowledge of Nato equipment, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have been accused of teaching minors, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but noted that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer based in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities said he had a key part in hiring and sending mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated ran a firm linked to managing finances and payments for the network. "Over the past two years, American entities associated with Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the firm she operated accused of wire transfers associated with Duque and his businesses.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the combatants," the department announced.

Analyst Commentary

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "very significant" development, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

She added that, Colombia has enacted a piece of legislation approving the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and transform domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, advised additional measures, noting that "restrictions are needed but not enough for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he stated. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.