US renews call for Sudan truce and imposes sanctions on group for 'sending Colombians to fight for RSF'

Washington says hundreds of recruits from South American country are part of war

Sudan has been in the throes of conflict between the military and the SAF since 2023. AFP

The US on Tuesday renewed its call for a humanitarian truce in Sudan and imposed sanctions on a transnational network that is allegedly recruiting Colombians to fight in Sudan's civil war for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Massad Boulos, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump on Africa, said warring parties in Sudan must accept a humanitarian truce and that those committing atrocities would be held to account.

He highlighted a new round of sanctions the US Treasury Department unveiled earlier against four individuals and four entities that were part of a network of Colombian nationals and companies.

The Treasury said that since September 2024, hundreds of Colombians have travelled to Sudan to provide the RSF with tactical and technical expertise.

Colombians “are serving as infantry and artillerymen, drone pilots, vehicle operators, and instructors, with some even training children to fight in the RSF,” the Treasury said.

The sanctions come as fighting has intensified in the brutal conflict that started in 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF.

The individuals who had sanctions imposed on them on Tuesday include Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, an Italian-Colombian dual national who is a retired Colombian military officer who has played “a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian military personnel to Sudan”, the Treasury said.

Also facing sanctions were the employment agency he co-founded and his wife, who has been involved in its management. The latest sanctions also took aim at other groups and their managers.

“The civil war in Sudan risks destabilising the region and making the country a safe haven for those who threaten the United States,” the Treasury said.

Also on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan about the conflict.

“They discussed developments in Yemen and the urgent need to advance peace efforts in Sudan,” the State Department said.

Last month, Mr Trump said he would work to help bring an end to the war in Sudan, after he was asked to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The war has killed tens of thousands and caused the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 13 million people forced to leave their homes.

The war is rooted in a rivalry for domination between the RSF's Gen Mohamed Dagalo and army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, Sudan's de facto leader.

The US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, a group known as the Quad, have tabled peace proposals in the hope of ending the war. They envisage an initial three-month humanitarian truce followed by a longer one and a political process to determine the country's future.