U.S. sanctions on mercenary recruiters

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned three individuals and two companies Friday for recruiting Colombian mercenaries to fight for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces in the country's civil war. (nbcnews.com) The targets include Colombian recruiters Jhon Fredy Vargas Oviedo, his son Jeferson Vargas Diaz, and Camilo Andrés Ordoñez Triana, plus firms Triana Security & Logistics and Asuntos Militares S.A.S. Treasury froze their U.S. assets and barred Americans from dealing with them. (home.treasury.gov) Treasury called it a "sophisticated international recruitment network" that lured over 500 Colombians with false promises of high pay and security jobs, then sent them to Sudan. The mercenaries fought for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after arriving in Libya first. (home.treasury.gov) Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen. Abdel Fattaq al-Burhan, and the paramilitary RSF under Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. The conflict has killed over 20,000 people, displaced 10 million, and triggered famine warnings across five states. (nbcnews.com) The RSF has recruited foreign fighters from Russia, Chad, South Sudan, and now Colombia to bolster its forces, which control much of western Sudan including lucrative gold mines. SAF denies similar foreign recruitment but has received Egyptian and Iranian support. (reuters.com) These sanctions aim to disrupt mercenary pipelines and raise the financial cost of foreign involvement in the war. They coincide with a U.S. call for a three-month humanitarian truce to allow aid delivery amid warnings of the world's largest hunger crisis. (home.treasury.gov) Sudan's war has drawn in external powers: United Arab Emirates allegedly arms the RSF via Chad, while Russia-backed Wagner Group (now Africa Corps) has deployed fighters for both sides in exchange for gold. The U.N. reports over 61,000 war-related deaths as of late 2024. (councilonforeignrelations.org) Colombian veterans of the 50-year FARC conflict, facing poverty and unemployment, are prime targets for recruiters offering $2,000 monthly salaries—triple local wages. At least 11 Colombians have died fighting for RSF, prompting Bogotá to investigate. (apnews.com) The Treasury action follows similar U.S. sanctions in 2024 on RSF gold smuggling networks and UAE firms aiding arms flows. No responses yet from the sanctioned parties or RSF. (home.treasury.gov) U.S. officials say more designations could follow to pressure both sides toward peace talks, stalled since a Jeddah conference last year. (state.gov)