The US State Department notified Congress on Thursday of its determination on the use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), triggering sanctions to begin in 15 days.
The sanctions include restrictions on US exports and financing to the Sudanese Armed Forces. The State Department demanded that the Sudanese Armed Forces “cease all chemical weapons use and uphold their obligations” under the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty signed by nearly all countries that prohibits their use.
In January 2025, the New York Times reported on the SAF’s use of chemical weapons around an earlier US decision which placed sanctions specifically on SAF leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, saying there was strong evidence of atrocities in the country, including indiscriminate bombing of civilians and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
The United Kingdom shares the concerns of the US. In an address to the 108th Session of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Joanna Roper CMG, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, said: “We are extremely concerned by reports which suggest that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have used chemical weapons in Sudan. Sudan, like any other State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, must abide by its obligations.” Protests in London have put the spotlight on the use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese Armed Forces. Protestors wore masks and protective clothing. In dramatic scenes, they lay on the lawns outside the Palace of Westminster to symbolise the Sudanese victims of the chemical weapon attacks.
The announcement of US sanctions comes amidst increasing international concern, not only about the use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese Armed Forces, but also the additional threat posed by their close ties to terror groups based in Sudan. The Sudanese Armed Forces are dependent on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade. Al Qaeda’s Abu Hudhayfah al-Sudani, a former associate of Osama Bin Laden, has re-emerged in Sudan with a Jihadist message for young Sudanese: “Sudan’s moment has come; chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad,” he said in an October 2022 manifesto. The threat of such groups gaining access to chemical weapons via their close links with the SAF, and potentially even using them beyond Sudan’s borders, is though to be an additional factor behind the US decision.
The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is unprecedented. Tens of thousands have been killed. Healthcare and education services have been obliterated, with millions of children out of school. Diseases including cholera are spreading. 25 million people are acutely hungry. More than 12 million have been displaced, including 3.8 million who fled to neighbouring countries. There is at least some glimmer of hope that this latest US decision to impose sanctions will at least prevent chemical weapons adding to the suffering, as well as perhaps lead to renewed international efforts to bring peace to country after two long years of war.
