By Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will impose sanctions and visa restrictions on Thursday against those perpetuating the violence in Sudan, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, stepping up pressure on the army and a rival paramilitary force to bring an end to the fighting.
Washington will also release an updated business advisory on Sudan, Sullivan said in a statement. He did not elaborate on the targets of the sanctions.
“The ongoing fighting in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces is a tragedy that has already stolen far too many lives – it must end,” Sullivan said.
“These measures are intended to hold accountable those responsible for undermining the peace, security, and stability of Sudan.”
U.S. President Joe Biden in May signed an executive order that paved the way for new Sudan-related sanctions to be imposed amid the fighting.
The conflict, which broke out on April 15, has killed hundreds, displaced more than 1.2 million people inside Sudan and driven 400,000 others across borders to neighboring states, the United Nations says.
The United States, alongside Saudi Arabia, has been leading efforts to try to secure an effective ceasefire in Sudan, which has been a focus of Washington’s diplomatic efforts in Africa as it works to counter Russian influence in the country and the wider region.
The latest violence was triggered by disagreement over an internationally backed plan to form a new civilian government.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had been preparing to sign on to a new political transition to elections under a civilian government when the war erupted. Together they had toppled a civilian government in an October 2021 coup.
Sudan’s army suspended talks with the rival paramilitary force on Wednesday over a ceasefire and aid access, raising fears the six-week-old conflict will push Africa’s third largest nation deeper into a humanitarian crisis.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
