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The United States has enforced penalties on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

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

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a faction implicated in horrific war crimes encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Emergence of Involvement

The involvement of Colombian fighters first came to light last year, prompted by an report which revealed that hundreds of retired troops had been hired to fight – an revelation that led to an unprecedented apology from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience gleaned from years of internal conflict, training on Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the contractors have allegedly instructed underage fighters, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary remarked that training children was "awful and crazy" but noted that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was a dual national, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The Treasury said he had a central role in hiring and sending ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated oversaw a company accused of managing finances and payments for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms associated with Duque engaged in several money transfers, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement noted.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw accused of money transfers linked to Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to halt the flow of funding and arms to the combatants," the department stated.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "very significant" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

Furthermore, the Colombian government recently passed a statute ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in overseas wars and change national security policy.

Sean McFate, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, stating that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and based out of Dubai, 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. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.