The United States has announced that it is imposing new sanctions on two warring Sudanese military factions. These factions have been responsible for a conflict that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people in Africa’s third-largest nation. Since April 15, the military, headed by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been engaged in a fight with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan. This conflict has led to the displacement of over one million people and has devastated the capital, Khartoum. These sanctions have come a day after Sudan’s military withdrew from peace talks that were taking place in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. The talks were intended to put an end to the fighting and allow humanitarian access in a country where over 25 million people urgently require aid. American and Saudi diplomats were leading the talks.
The new sanctions will restrict visas for officials of both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The Treasury Department has also placed two major weapons companies that General al-Burhan and the Sudanese Armed Forces own on its blacklist. Americans are prohibited from doing business with these companies. The two additional companies that the US Treasury Department sanctioned are Al Junaid and Tradive. The former is a gold mining company controlled by General Hamdan’s family, and the latter is a Rapid Support Forces-controlled company based in the United Arab Emirates.
The White House has indicated that sanctions were forthcoming since President Biden issued an executive order last month, which expanded his administration’s authorities to respond to the violence in Sudan. A senior US official stated that the Biden administration would work with the countries where the four companies operate to guarantee compliance with the sanctions. The official added that the US diplomatic efforts on Sudan are geared toward establishing a ceasefire, and the ultimate goal is to steer the country back to civilian rule. The two factions appear to continue meeting privately in Saudi Arabia, even as the military has officially withdrawn from talks.
Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, noted the catastrophic consequences of the prolonged fighting. He noted, “Despite a cease-fire agreement, senseless violence has continued across the country — hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and hurting those who need it most. The scope and scale of the bloodshed in Khartoum and Darfur, in particular, is appalling.” The US State Department has also placed visa restrictions on officials linked to former dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019 after three decades in power. Before their infighting began in April, the two generals had partnered 20 months earlier, staging a coup and overthrowing the government that had ousted Mr. Bashir. After the military coup in October 2021, the US government put a freeze of $700 million on direct aid to Sudan’s government and suspended debt relief. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank froze $6 billion in immediate assistance and plans to waive debt worth $50 billion. Other institutions and governments, such as the African Development Bank, took similar measures.
