It was in early September 2024 that a 50-year-old car salesman was on his way to Shindi, north of the Sudanese capital, when he saw armed men on the side of the road attending to five ailing-looking men lying on the ground.
"I was in an area controlled by the army but not far from positions held by the Rapid Support Forces [RSF]," he told The National, referring to the paramilitary force that has been fighting against the Sudanese Armed Forces since October 2023 in a devastating civil war.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted by SAF-aligned security agencies, the man said he was in Al Jaili area of Bahri when he saw the fighters and the sick men. Sudan's security agencies have a history of detaining and intimidating perceived opponents.
Bahri is one of three Nile-side cities that comprise the Sudanese capital's greater region. The other two are Khartoum and Omdurman, but the three are commonly known as Khartoum.
"I could hear gunfire and explosions so intense and heavy, like a big battle was going on somewhere not far from the spot where I stopped my car," the man said. "I got out of my car and approached the soldiers. I asked them whether I could be of some help. They told me: 'Get away from here as fast as you can'.
"I waited at a distance to see what would happen. A minibus without number plates later came and took away the five men who were breathing with difficulty."
The man, who said he was on his way back to Shindi after shopping for groceries in the capital, explained that he did not know then what was causing the men to breathe with difficulty, but he surmised from their appearance that they worked at the nearby Al Jaili oil refinery.
His account of the alleged chemical weapons attack launched by the SAF against the RSF in the capital in 2024 could not immediately be corroborated by more witness accounts. However, it generally conforms with what is known to date about the events in Bahri two years ago, when the SAF and its allies were in the middle of a weeks-long military campaign to wrest back control of the capital, which the RSF had captured in the early days of the war.
It was given to The National just hours after The New York Times and The Washington Post published a dossier of evidence that details how the SAF built up its chemical weapons operation piece by piece before attempting to cover its tracks.
The dossier, which includes videos and photographs and other evidence, provides the most detailed account yet of the secret operation that led the US to sanction Sudanese SAF-aligned authorities.
Voice and text messages involving SAF chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan suggest he had direct knowledge of the alleged chemical weapons programme – a key factor in the US decision to impose sanctions on him in January 2025, according to The New York Times.
Gen Al Burhan, who is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on behalf of Sudan later this month, has sought to portray himself as the country’s legitimate leader, despite opposition from civilian political forces, many of which insist that neither he nor the RSF leadership should have a role in a future civilian government.
The new evidence suggests the SAF developed a chlorine weapons programme in 2024 and tested the weapons in Sudan’s desert in July that year, before expanding production despite repeated chlorine leaks, including one incident in which insects and scorpions were found dead inside a hangar.
After the US sanctioned Sudan in May 2025 over chemical weapons use, intercepted communications cited in the dossier indicate Gen Al Burhan ordered the official in charge of production to “remove all traces” of the programme.
No confirmed death toll is known from the Sudanese army’s alleged chemical attacks. However, investigations have corroborated evidence consistent with chlorine being dropped from aircraft.
The conflict in Sudan, the latest in a series of civil wars dating back to the 1950s, has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 10 million and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with some 20 million people – nearly half the population – struggling with hunger.
"It was only two days later that I learnt that the area where I saw the men was contaminated and that a large number of people were affected," said the witness. "Later, I learnt from a relative that two civilians died while being treated in hospital because of the contamination.
"I have since that day avoided the area entirely."
