The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing him of prioritizing war over peaceful negotiations to resolve the conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
According to a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department, under Burhan’s leadership, the Sudanese military has engaged in indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools, markets, and hospitals, as well as extrajudicial killings.
The sanctions, which follow similar measures last week against Burhan’s rival, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (commander of the Rapid Support Forces, RSF), aim to show Washington’s impartiality in the two-year-old civil war. Two sources told Reuters that the U.S. seeks to demonstrate it is not favoring either side.
Speaking on Al Jazeera earlier in the day, Burhan appeared defiant, stating, “I hear there’s going to be sanctions on the army leadership. We welcome any sanctions for serving this country.”
The sanctions extend to individuals and entities accused of supplying weapons to the Sudanese army, including a Sudanese-Ukrainian national and a Hong Kong-based company. The measures freeze their U.S. assets and bar American citizens from engaging in transactions with them. However, the Treasury Department has allowed limited exceptions to avoid impeding humanitarian aid.
The civil war erupted in April 2023 after tensions escalated between the Sudanese army and the RSF, who jointly ousted Sudan’s civilian government in a 2021 coup but later clashed over plans to integrate their forces. The ongoing conflict has plunged half of Sudan’s population into hunger and devastated the country.
Washington determined that RSF forces, led by Dagalo (commonly known as Hemedti), have committed genocide and carried out attacks on civilians, including widespread looting in territories under their control. Last week, Dagalo faced U.S. sanctions for these actions.
Sudan’s foreign ministry criticized the latest sanctions, calling them “confused and unjust” and accusing the U.S. of siding with RSF forces.
Efforts by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to mediate peace talks between the warring factions, including discussions in Geneva in August, have largely failed, as the army has rejected most proposals. Instead, the military has intensified its campaign, recently capturing the strategic city of Wad Madani and pledging to retake Khartoum.
Both the army and RSF have been accused of war crimes, including airstrikes and targeted violence against civilians. Most recently, the army was blamed for revenge attacks in Wad Madani.
In his remarks on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed regret over Washington’s inability to end the conflict, stating, “Despite some progress in humanitarian assistance, we have not achieved peace, nor stopped the abuses and suffering.” As his term nears its end, Blinken urged the incoming administration to continue working toward resolving the crisis.
