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The United States has levied restrictions on a group of four people and four firms alleged of recruiting South American contractors to fight for and train a militia force in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Announcing the restrictions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was largely composed of Colombian citizens and firms.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Sudanese RSF militia, a force linked to horrific war crimes such as massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged last year, following an investigation which disclosed that over three hundred retired troops had been contracted to participate in the war – an event that prompted an unprecedented apology from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience gleaned from decades of civil war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed underage fighters, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary remarked that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer located in the UAE. The US authorities said he had a key part in hiring and sending ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who authorities say ran a firm accused of managing finances and payments for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States linked to Duque carried out numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the government release stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted financial transactions associated with Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on external actors to halt the flow of monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the Treasury said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the measures as a "very significant" development, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the right way to go".

Furthermore, the Colombian government ratified a piece of legislation approving the anti-mercenary convention, aiming to curb decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and reshape domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," McFate warned.