USA imposed sanctions on Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan | Sudan war news
A Sudanese general has been accused of ‘deadly attacks’ on civilians during the ongoing war with the RSF paramilitary.
The administration of outgoing United States President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Abdel Fattah al-Burhanaccusing him of destabilizing the war-torn country.
ua statement on Thursday, the US Treasury Department said that, under al-Burhan’s leadership, the SAF had “carried out deadly attacks on civilians, including airstrikes on protected infrastructure including schools, markets and hospitals”.
“The SAF is also responsible for routinely and deliberately denying humanitarian access, using food denial as a tactic of war,” it said.
The move comes just days after the Biden administration imposed sanctions about Mohamed Hamdan Dagal, leader of the Rapid Support Force (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group that has been at war with the SAF since April 2023.
Under Dagal’s leadership, “the RSF engaged in serious human rights violations, including widespread sexual violence and the execution of defenseless civilians and unarmed combatants,” Ministry of Finance he said January 7.
Washington also accused the RSF and its allied militias of committing genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
The war in Sudan has killed thousands of people and plunged the country into a dire humanitarian crisis.
More than 8 million Sudanese are internally displaced, while 3 million others have fled to neighboring countries, according to the United Nations.
A UN-backed group that also monitors global hunger warned at the end of last month this famine spread rapidly through Sudan, and famine conditions were confirmed in parts of Darfur, among other regions.
Asked about Thursday’s sanctions during a briefing in Washington, DC, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that Sudan’s armed forces “continue to target civilians” in the country.
“He hindered the progress of the peace process. On numerous occasions he has refused to participate in the ceasefire negotiations that we have requested,” said Blinken.
“And together with the RSF, it has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, through which people suffer every day.”
Blinken also expressed hope that the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, will continue to try to end the conflict.
“For me, yes, another real regret is that, when it comes to Sudan, we were not able, in our time, to reach that day of success,” he said.
Speaking earlier on Thursday, al-Burhan defied the odds that he could be a target.
“Any sanctions in favor of the country, we would welcome them,” he told Al Jazeera Arabic.
