US imposes fresh sanctions on Sudan over alleged chemical weapons use

The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions on Sudan, accusing the country’s military-backed government of using chemical weapons during its conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

 

The sanctions, announced by the US State Department and effective Monday, follow Washington’s determination that the Sudanese government used chemical weapons in 2024, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Sudan ratified in 1999.

 

Although US authorities did not specify the type of chemical weapons used, international media reports alleged that chlorine gas was deployed during attacks in 2024.

 

Sudan’s government has rejected the allegations, describing them as “baseless” and “political blackmail.”

 

The latest sanctions further restrict Sudan’s access to US financing and exports and prohibit Sudan-owned air carriers from operating in US airspace.

 

Media reports, including investigations by The New York Times and France 24, alleged that the Sudanese military used chlorine gas in attacks around the Al-Jaili oil refinery north of Khartoum in September 2024, then under RSF control.

 

The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemeti, began in April 2023 and has triggered widespread allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

The United States has already sanctioned RSF commanders over allegations of genocide in Darfur and, by January 2025, imposed sanctions on both Burhan and Hemeti.

 

The war has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly 20 million people facing acute food insecurity and hundreds of thousands reportedly killed.

 

Efforts by the United States and Saudi Arabia to broker a ceasefire have so far failed, with both warring parties continuing to pursue military victory despite months of battlefield stalemate.