Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, the United States announced sanctions on two commanders of Sudan’s paramilitary force, aiming to halt their offensive on the Darfur city of el-Fasher.
The U.S. Treasury Department stated it was freezing any U.S. assets and criminalizing transactions involving Ali Yagoub Gibril, Central Darfur commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed, an RSF major general involved in operational planning.
“The RSF military operation to encircle and besiege el-Fasher, North Darfur, has endangered the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We stand ready to take additional measures against those individuals and institutions that actively escalate the war — including any offensive actions on el-Fasher.”
On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over reports of heavy fighting in densely populated areas as the RSF seeks control of el-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur not under its control.
Since the conflict began in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the RSF, tens of thousands of people have died, and millions have been displaced. The conflict erupted after the head generals of the two forces refused a plan to integrate.
Despite leading diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting, the United States has seen limited success, with RSF commanders unlikely to hold significant assets in the West that would be impacted by the sanctions.
Both the RSF and Sudan’s armed forces are determined to secure a battleground victory, with each side receiving support from external entities.
U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, is traveling around the Middle East and Africa this week to seek progress.
The United States has accused both sides of committing war crimes and has charged the RSF with ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against the indigenous African-origin people of Darfur. The RSF’s predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, previously conducted a scorched-earth campaign in the region, which the United States had described as genocide.
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