Full Analysis Summary
US sanctions on RSF recruiters
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on four individuals and four companies accused of running a transnational network that recruited former Colombian military personnel to fight for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
U.S. officials said the network moved fighters to Sudan and even trained children to fight.
Officials named Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra and linked companies including Bogotá’s International Services Agency (A4SI), Panama-based Global Staffing S.A. and Colombia’s Maine Global Corp S.A.S.
The designations freeze U.S. assets and bar U.S. persons from dealing with the targets.
The Treasury said the measures aim to disrupt recruitment, funding and deployment channels that have bolstered the RSF and worsened the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Coverage Differences
Tone/Emphasis
Western and West Asian sources largely echo the Treasury’s framing of designations as enforcement action disrupting a recruitment and financing network, while alternative outlets and regional outlets additionally highlight leaked reporting and investigative threads suggesting broader state or Emirati-linked facilitation; some emphasize the child soldier allegation more prominently than others. The Killeen Daily Herald fragment requests the article text rather than providing coverage, showing a gap, while outlets like Al Jazeera (West Asian) repeat Treasury language and call the crisis “the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.”
Alleged Colombian roles in Sudan
Reporting across outlets describes the roles former Colombian personnel allegedly performed in Sudan: infantry, artillery, drone pilots, vehicle operators and instructors, and some reports say they took part in major operations in Khartoum, Omdurman, Kordofan and El Fasher.
Several outlets and a U.S. Treasury statement further say some recruits reportedly trained child soldiers.
Media coverage also links those combat deployments to documented abuses by the Rapid Support Forces, including mass killings, ethnically targeted violence and sexual abuse, which have intensified the humanitarian emergency.
Coverage Differences
Scope/Detail
Some sources (e.g., the-star.co.ke and Middle East Eye) stress connections between recruited Colombians and specific RSF operations such as the capture of El Fasher and cite documented or satellite‑corroborated mass abuses; other outlets (e.g., Anadolu Ajansı and Al Jazeera) foreground the humanitarian toll and the Treasury’s warning about regional destabilization without repeating every battlefield detail. This results in differences in on‑the‑ground specificity versus crisis framing.
Sanctions and money flows
Sanctions identify key individuals and corporate nodes allegedly central to recruitment and money flows.
Officials singled out Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, described as a dual Colombian–Italian retired officer based in the UAE, and his Bogotá-registered International Services Agency (A4SI).
The A4SI owner/manager is reported as Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero.
Panama-based Global Staffing S.A. (now Talent Bridge, S.A.), Colombia’s Maine Global Corp S.A.S., and Comercializadora San Bendito were also named.
U.S. statements and multiple outlets say Maine Global handled payroll and currency exchanges, and that U.S.-linked wire transfers moved millions in 2024–25.
Coverage Differences
Attribution/Specificity
Most outlets repeat the same roster of named individuals and entities, but some sources add investigatory detail or past allegations: ASHARQ AL-AWSAT reports alleged links between Quijano and the Norte del Valle cartel, while the Eastleigh Voice and the-star.co.ke focus more on OFAC’s descriptions of roles (payroll, wire transfers). The degree to which outlets present past allegations as allegation vs. established fact varies across sources.
UAE links and sanctions
Several outlets report follow-the-money leads and alleged UAE links, but they differ on how explicitly sanctions and public statements connect those links to state actors.
Coverage Differences
Narrative/Implication
Middle East Eye (Western Alternative) highlights leaked documents and investigative reporting that point to UAE‑linked intermediaries and suggests wider Emirati facilitation, while mainstream outlets such as Al Jazeera and Anadolu Ajansı (West Asian) emphasize the Treasury’s legal designations and humanitarian framing without asserting direct state sponsorship. Investigative claims are presented as reporting or leaks, not as legal determinations, which some outlets caution.
Sanctions amid humanitarian crisis
The sanctions were presented against a backdrop of grave humanitarian concern.
U.S. officials warned that the RSF’s brutality has worsened the conflict, contributing to large-scale displacement and regional instability.
Some outlets noted additional steps, such as the U.S. State Department’s earlier declaration that RSF members had committed genocide.
Coverage stresses that the designations freeze U.S. assets and bar transactions, aiming to choke recruitment and funding.
Humanitarians and the UN urge an end to the violence that has forced millions to flee.
Coverage Differences
Severity/Tone
West Asian outlets like Al Jazeera and Anadolu Ajansı foreground the humanitarian crisis and quote Treasury officials describing the situation as the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis, while African and Western Alternative sources such as the-star.co.ke and Middle East Eye emphasize documented atrocities and specific allegations (including a referenced genocide declaration) alongside the sanctions. The variations reflect editorial focus: humanitarian framing versus detailed atrocity reporting.