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
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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
Russia hits Ukraine with drones, missiles, kills at least 10 in Kharkiv
- Zelensky said that Russia launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the energy sector and railway infrastructure
- “There should be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life“
KHARKIV, Ukraine: Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and killing at least 10 people, including two children, in the northeast city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the energy sector and railway infrastructure across the country.
“There should be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.
“Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential and critical infrastructure, and therefore support should continue,” Zelensky said, urging partners to continue air defense and weapons supplies.
Ukrainian air defense units shot down 453 drones and 19 missiles, the air force said. But nine missiles and 26 attack drones hit 22 sites, it said.
BALLISTIC MISSILE SLAMS INTO RESIDENTIAL BUILDING
The city of Kharkiv was targeted by both Russian drones and missiles, and 10 people, including two children, were killed after a Russian ballistic missile slammed into a five-story residential building, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
“When we arrived here 20 minutes after the explosion, I thought I was going to have a stroke. I couldn’t string two words together, and my legs were buckling,” Hanna, a resident of the destroyed building, told Reuters.
“It’s good that I wasn’t there with my child and that my father was with me. It was ordinary people who lived there. What were they targeting?“
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out massive overnight strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial complexes, military airfields and energy facilities, the Interfax news agency reported.
In Kharkiv, 15 people were also wounded, and 19 residential buildings were damaged by the Russian attacks, Syniehubov said.
Commercial and administrative buildings, electricity distribution lines, and cars were also hit, he said.
In Kyiv, three people were injured, and the heating was knocked out in 2,806 residential apartment buildings in four districts across the capital after Russian strikes hit an energy infrastructure facility, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
National grid operator Ukrenergo said that emergency power cuts were introduced in seven regions following the Russian attacks.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia also attacked four railway stations and other railway infrastructure in central Ukraine and port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region, setting on fire containers with vegetable oil and damaging a grain warehouse.
