US targets Sudan's arm smugglers with new sanctions on RSF leader

On Tuesday, the United States sanctioned a senior leader of Sudan‘s leading antigovernment faction, citing the individual’s role in obtaining weapons used to commit atrocities in the devastating civil war still consuming the North African nation.

For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

Announced by, according to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Tuesday’s sanctions target Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa (Algoney), is deeply enmeshed within the leadership of the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and is the head of the UAE-based Tradive General Trading LLC, an RSF-connected arms smuggling front company.

Last month, the Sudanese government accused the UAE of extending the war by providing the RSF with weapons in violation of international law.

According to OFAC, Algoney, who is the brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, directly facilitated the transfer of arms and other military materials used by the militia and its allies against civilians in the city of El Fasher in North Darfur as well as other locations throughout the country.

FILE PHOTO: A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo)

“At a time when the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, and others are advocating for peace, key individuals on both sides—including Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa—continue to procure weapons to facilitate attacks and other atrocities against their own citizens,” said Bradley T. Smith, the acting undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The war in Sudan

The RSF and its allied Arab militias’ war with the recognized Sudanese government has left tens of thousands dead and more than 10 million displaced, according to the most recent estimates published by the UN’s refugee agency.

In a separate statement attributed to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller released Tuesday, the US said Algoney’s actions fueled the RSF’s ability to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing… including those involving sexual violence and ethnically targeted attacks on non-Arab groups.”

This article was originally published at www.jpost.com