The United States of America has sanctioned General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the leader of Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), for committing lethal attacks on civilians in the country.
The action which comes days after US issued similar sanctions on the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), Gen. Burhan’s nemesis in the long-running conflict.Washington also sanctioned a Sudanese-Ukrainian national, Ahmad Abdallah, and a Hong Kong-based company called Portex which he controls.It accused Abdallah, who serves as COO of Portex, of coordinating the acquisition of Iranian made UAVs from an Azerbaijani defence company for shipment to Sudan.
“The SAF’s egregious war tactics, alongside those of the RSF, are primarily responsible for one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, where famine has been declared in five regions of the country.,” the US Department of Treasury said in a statement on Thursday.
The US says Burhan’s SAF has committed lethal attacks on civilians, including airstrikes against protected infrastructure including schools, markets, and hospitals. It also says the SAF is responsible for the routine and intentional denial of humanitarian access, using food deprivation as a war tactic.
“Under Burhan’s leadership, the SAF’s war tactics have included indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure, attacks on schools, markets, and hospitals, and extrajudicial executions,” the US Treasury added.
In response, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said the decision was based on “baseless justifications” and said its timing was “questionable” and “reflects confusion and a weak sense of confidence.”
In Nairobi this week, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attempted to hold a press conference to address the current situation in Sudan and provide updates on the ongoing developments, especially the recent decision by US to sanction its leader Hemedti.
The briefing was aborted last minute after RSF leaders failed to show up.
The latest conflict in Sudan begun in April 2023 after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) fell out with the RSF in a power struggle amid a planned transition to civilian rule. Since then, more than 12,000 people have been killed and millions displaced, with no end in sight.
The conflict has, as is common with Horn of Africa geopolitics, attracted external players with ulterior motives on supporting whichever side eventually wins. Among them is a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which has seen them support different sides of the conflict.