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The US government has imposed sanctions on a group of four people and four firms charged of hiring former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Announcing the restrictions on this week, the American treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a group accused of horrific war crimes such as massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Emergence of Involvement

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light the previous year, prompted by an report which disclosed that over three hundred ex-military personnel had been contracted to engage in combat – an revelation that prompted an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience resulting from years of internal conflict, training on Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In the Sudanese theater, the Colombians have reportedly trained child soldiers, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury accused him a pivotal function in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was penalized as well.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who authorities say ran a firm implicated in processing money and salaries for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States linked to Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement said.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the final person to be penalized, with the firm she operated accused of money transfers connected to Duque and his operations.

"The US once more urges foreign parties to cease providing financial and military support to the combatants," the department said in a statement.

Analyst Commentary

A senior analyst, with the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "very significant" milestone, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government recently passed a law approving the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and reshape national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, stating that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for combating rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he stated. The UAE has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.