The US has imposed sanctions on a network it says is recruiting former Colombian soldiers and training individuals to fight in Sudan's civil war.
Eight entities and individuals - primarily of Colombian nationality - have been aiding the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Tuesday.
Its statement added that hundreds of Colombian mercenaries have travelled to Sudan since 2024, including to serve as infantry and drone pilots for the RSF.
Last year, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said those who spill young blood for money in foreign countries must be punished criminally.
The participation of soldiers - both former and active - in foreign conflicts dates back decades to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in exchange for American military aid in Colombia's war on drugs and armed groups.
This created an even greater number of Colombian soldiers who, two decades later, are beginning to retire without a sufficient source of income, a retired military officer turned academic told BBC Mundo.
Alfonso Manzur explained that as a result, we see more Colombian ex-soldiers on missions abroad. Retired Colombian soldiers are commonly recruited under false promises of low-risk work, before appearing on the frontlines, such as in the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and in Sudan.
In 2024, the Colombian foreign ministry said it was aware of citizens being deceived by what it called sophisticated human trafficking networks, and becoming mercenaries in international conflicts.
On Tuesday, the US Treasury's OFAC said it was targeting a network for recruiting fighters for the RSF, which has been battling the Sudanese army since April 2023.
The RSF has shown again and again that it is willing to target civilians - including infants and young children, said John Hurley, the Treasury's under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Earlier this year, it determined that RSF members had committed genocide, although both the paramilitary group and the army have repeatedly been accused of war crimes.
The transnational network accused of aiding the group consists of four entities and four individuals, including a dual Colombian-Italian national who is a former military officer, now based in the United Arab Emirates, a country repeatedly accused of arming the RSF. It denies the allegations.
The US has accused the primarily Colombian network of recruiting mercenaries to serve with the RSF, providing tactical and technical expertise, and even training children to fight.
According to its statement, Colombian fighters were involved in numerous battles across Sudan including in the capital Khartoum, Omdurman, Kordofan, and el-Fasher. It is estimated that more than 5,000 people were killed as the paramilitary rampaged through the army's last stronghold in Darfur.
Nearly 12 million people have been driven from their homes with famine conditions in parts of the country.
