WASHINGTON: The US imposed sanctions on four people and four firms for their alleged involvement in a transnational network that recruits former Colombian military members who train soldiers to fight for the Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
The Rapid Support Forces, which has been at war with the Sudanese military since April 2023 has been accused of war crimes by Amnesty International and the UN’s Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said this month that he fears “a new wave of atrocities ” in Sudan amid a surge in fierce fighting in the Kordofan region in central Sudan.
Included in the Tuesday sanctions are Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, a retired Colombian military officer and his wife, an employment agency manager named Mateo Andres Duque Botero, and a number of staffing agencies that have allegedly processed payroll for the Colombian fighters.
Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said the RSF has shown “its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region, creating the conditions for terrorist groups to grow.”
According to the UN the conflict in Sudan has killed 40,000 people — though some rights groups say the death toll is significantly higher — and has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with over 14 million displaced. Many areas have experienced famine.
The US government has accused the RSF of genocide in Darfur, and the International Criminal Court has said it is investigating suspected war crimes.
Treasury says RSF was supported by Colombian fighters when it captured El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on October 26 after an 18-month siege. The city, where dozens of unarmed men were executed and women and girls were raped, was the military’s last stronghold in the sprawling region of Darfur.
President Donald Trump has stated he wants to end the civil war in Sudan. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was recently in Washington D.C. in November and requested Trump’s help to end the war.
And Kenyan President William Ruto during a December meeting with Trump asked for Trump’s support in “efforts to resolve the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.”
US sanctions network recruiting Colombian fighters for Sudanese paramilitary
https://arab.news/62ww7
US sanctions network recruiting Colombian fighters for Sudanese paramilitary
- Treasury says RSF was supported by Colombian fighters when it captured El-Fasher in Darfur
- Designation says Colombians were recruited provide mercenaries with tactical and technical expertise
UN chief says 37,000 West Bank Palestinians displaced in 2025; warns Gaza war threatens two-state solution
- ‘We enter 2026 with the clock ticking louder than ever. Will the year ahead bend towards peace or slip into the abyss of despair?” asks Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
- Illegal settlement expansions, demolitions, displacements and evictions in the West Bank are accelerating, he says
NEW YORK CITY: More than 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the occupied West Bank during 2025, a year in which there were also record-high levels of violence committed by Israeli settlers, UN secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.
The situation on the ground was rapidly eroding the prospects for a two-state solution, he warned.
“We enter 2026 with the clock ticking louder than ever,” Guterres told the opening session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
“Will the year ahead bend towards peace or slip into the abyss of despair?”
Illegal settlement expansions, demolitions, displacements and evictions in the West Bank were accelerating, said Guterres, who described the Israeli actions as destabilizing in nature and unlawful under international law.
“The recently published tender by Israel for 3,401 housing units in the E1 area (of the West Bank), alongside continued demolitions, is profoundly alarming,” he added.
“If carried forward, it would sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermine territorial contiguity, and strike a severe blow to the viability of a two-state solution.”
Turning to the situation in Gaza, Guterres said Palestinians there continued to endure “grave suffering.” More than 500 have been killed since the truce between Israel and Hamas in October, he noted.
“I urge all parties to implement the (ceasefire) agreement in full, exercise maximum restraint, and comply with international law and UN resolutions,” he said.
He called for the rapid and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid at scale, including through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Israel reopened on Monday.
Guterres criticized Israeli authorities for the continued suspension of international non-governmental organizations that provide aid, which he said “defies humanitarian principles, undermines fragile progress, and worsens the suffering of civilians.”
Regarding the future of Gaza, he said any sustainable solution must include governance of the territory and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by a unified and internationally recognized Palestinian government.
“Gaza is and must remain an integral part of a Palestinian state,” Guterres added.
He also reaffirmed his support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and condemned recent Israeli legislation and other actions he said impeded the ability of the agency to operate, including moves to demolish its Sheikh Jarrah compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
“Let me be clear: UNRWA premises are United Nations premises,” he said. “They are inviolable and immune from any form of interference.”
Guterres described public threats against UNRWA staff as “utterly abhorrent,” and said Israel was obliged under international law to respect the privileges and immunities of the UN.
He also reiterated that an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was essential.
“There is only one viable route (to peace): the two-state solution, in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions,” he said, as he called on the international community to act “with clarity, unity and determination” on the issue.
