The US has imposed sanctions on Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa, a senior leader of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), for his role in procuring weapons for the militia fighting a civil war against the country's army.
Maj Musa, the younger brother of RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, is the subject of sanctions for “arming the RSF and directly contributing to the continuing siege of El Fasher in North Darfur that is putting the lives of hundreds of thousands at risk", the US Department of State said in a statement.
It accused the RSF of failing to "heed warnings" from the US and said the group and allied militias "have continued to commit atrocities" in the conflict. The Sudanese army has also been accused of war crimes in the fighting, which has created the world's biggest displacement crisis.
Details of the sanctions were not provided, but are part of the US efforts to promote accountability for those fuelling the fighting in Sudan.
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Rapid Support Forces commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, then deputy head of Sudan's sovereign council, gives a media briefing in Khartoum in February last year. Reuters -
Smoke rises after blasts in Khartoum amid clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary on April 15 last year. AFP -
Sudanese Army soldiers at the Rapid Support Forces base in Port Sudan on April 16 last year. AFP -
Black smoke covers the sky over Khartoum as clashes continued on April 19. AFP -
Displaced Khartoum residents flee the city after a 24-hour truce collapsed on April 19. AFP -
Foreign citizens board a plane at a French military air base in Khartoum to leave Sudan on April 23. AFP -
A soldier carries a child as people evacuated from Sudan disembark from a plain at a military airport in Amman on April 24. AFP -
Evacuees from Sudan sit in a military plane as they wait to be processed by Kenyan troops in Nairobi on April 24. Reuters -
Sudanese refugees gather to receive humanitarian aid in Koufroun, Chad, on April 30. AFP -
Sudanese Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan visits troop positions in Khartoum on May 30. AFP -
Sudanese refugees at the Zabout camp in Goz Beida, Chad, on July 1. AP -
Smoke rises from a fire at a lumber warehouse in southern Khartoum on June 7. AFP -
People prepare to leave Khartoum during a ceasefire on June 19. AP -
People sit on top of a lorry carrying furniture on the road between Khartoum and Wad Madani, Al Gezirah state, on July 18. AFP -
Men load goods from Ethiopia on to a lorry in the border town of Gallabat on August 2. AFP -
Sudanese Army troops ride in a military convoy accompanying the governor of Darfur State in the eastern city of Gedaref on August 30. AFP -
A fire rages at a livestock market after RSF bombardment in Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, on September 1. AFP -
People cook on a campfire at a school that has been turned into a shelter for displaced Sudanese in the northern border town of Wadi Halfa, near Egypt, on September 11. AFP -
Displaced Sudanese ride on top of a lorry in Wad Madani on December 16. AFP -
Sudanese refugees queue to board a lorry to go to a transit centre after crossing the border into South Sudan on February 14. AFP -
People watch as fighters from the army-aligned Sudan Liberation Movement attend a graduation ceremony in the south-eastern Gedaref state on March 28. AFP -
Fighters from the SLM attend a graduation ceremony in Gedaref state on March 28. AFP
The country has been embroiled in a civil war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the RSF and the Sudanese army. The human cost of the war has not been fully determined because of the fighting, but Sudanese health authorities said that the death toll is far in excess of 40,000 and is feared to be much higher. The war has also displaced more than 11 million people, the UN said.
The European Council also issued a directive on Tuesday to prolong sanctions placed on six people and six entities affiliated with both sides of the war after being deemed “responsible for supporting activities undermining the stability and political transition of Sudan".
The sanctions have been issued in several rounds since January and include travel restrictions in the EU, asset freezing and a prohibition on the provision of funds given to those listed. They will remain in place until October of 2025.
Although Maj Musa was not among the six people sanctioned by the EU, GSK Advance Company – a company where he holds a majority stake – was among the six sanctioned entities.
A Sudan-based information technology and security company, GSK Advance is “part of the RSF’s commercial network which generates stable revenue for the RSF enabling them to finance and continue the conflict in Sudan”. “It is used by the RSF as a front company, facilitating cash flows into the RSF and being involved in the RSF’s procurement processes,” a January statement by the European Council said.
In recent weeks, the army has made gains against the RSF in the capital Khartoum, but the conflict continues. International mediators have repeatedly attempted to win a ceasefire, but these efforts have so far failed.
