The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five individuals and entities on April 17, 2026, dismantling a Colombian recruitment network that has been funneling foreign fighters into Sudan’s civil war. The action landed on the exact three-year anniversary of a conflict that has killed over 150,000 people and displaced more than 14 million.
The sanctions target a pipeline that has reportedly recruited hundreds of former Colombian military personnel since 2024, placing them in combat and technical roles for the Rapid Support Forces. Think drone operators, snipers, and other specialized positions, all in service of an armed group whose leader was already sanctioned back in January 2025.
What the sanctions actually do
OFAC executed these designations under Executive Order 14098, which gives the Treasury broad authority to target individuals and entities whose activities destabilize Sudan. The practical effect: all property belonging to the sanctioned parties that falls within US jurisdiction, or is controlled by US persons, gets frozen immediately.
The RSF, led by Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, has been locked in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023. Daglo Mousa himself was designated by OFAC on January 7, 2025, making this latest round of sanctions an expansion of existing pressure on the RSF’s support infrastructure rather than a new front entirely.
