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The US government has levied restrictions on a group of four people and four firms alleged of enlisting former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Revealing the measures on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group implicated in terrible atrocities encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light the previous year, prompted by an investigation which found that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been contracted to participate in the war – an discovery that led to an unusual statement of regret from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from years of internal conflict, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Role in the Conflict

In the conflict, the Colombians have reportedly trained child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved previously stated that training children was "terrible and insane" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer operating from the Dubai. The US authorities alleged he played a central role in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual national who officials alleged ran a firm linked to handling funds and payroll for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States connected to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release stated.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be penalized, with the entity she oversaw alleged to have wire transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to halt the flow of monetary and weaponry aid to the combatants," the agency stated.

Reaction

A senior analyst, from a conflict think tank, labeled the sanctions as a "highly important" development, stating that "targeting the enablers is the correct approach".

She added that, Colombia has enacted a law endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in overseas wars and reshape domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, an expert on mercenaries, urged more caution, saying that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, allegations it disputes. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.