US sanctions Sudan army chief Burhan

The US government has imposed sanctions on the head of the Sudanese army who is also the head of Sudan, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s Ministry of Finance has said.

He has been leading one of two sides in a 21-month civil war that has killed thousands of people, displaced more than 12 million people and pushed the country into starvation.

In a brief statement, the US accused General Burhan of “disrupting the Sudanese state and undermining the goal of a democratic transition”.

The statement follows reports of civilian killings in the central Wad Madani district in recent days, however this was not mentioned in the statement.

Last week, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the anti-military group, was also admitted by the US.

The US blamed the Dagalo Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for killing people in the conflict.

In announcing the sanctions on Burhan on Thursday, Washington said the troops he led had “carried out threats to kill civilians” including targeting “schools, markets and hospitals”.

The US also says that the military is “responsible for habitually and deliberately denying humanitarian access, using food shortages as a means of warfare”.

In the first year of the war, the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that the soldiers had committed crimes during the war.

Earlier, General Burhan ordered an investigation into allegations that his troops committed widespread atrocities after recapturing the Gezira provincial capital from their military rivals.

His move comes amid concerns that civilians – including foreign nationals – were killed after the capture of Wad Madani.

Neighboring South Sudan said on Wednesday it had summoned Sudan’s ambassador to protest against the “killing of innocent people”.

Wad Madani, located 87 miles (140km) south of the capital Khartoum, fell to the RSF about a year ago. The army retook power on Saturday.

The city functions as a crossroads, connecting several regions through major access roads. It is also the largest town in Khartoum.

A Sudanese independence movement has accused the military of carrying out a riot, killing at least 13 people in Camp Taiba, a village 20 kilometers away.

The head of the UN in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she was very concerned about reports of returning civilians to Gezira “based on what they say is theirs or ethnicity”.

The US special envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, said the reports were “alarming” and called on the military and allied forces to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.

Chief Burhan said he had established a committee to investigate the people killed in Camp Taiba, and asked them to report back within a week.

He did not comment on the concern raised by South Sudan, and whether the investigation would focus on the atrocities taking place elsewhere in Gezira.

South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had received a “full report” from its embassy in Sudan “outlining the tragedy that has resulted in the loss of innocent lives, who remain non-combatants”.

The military has accused the RSF of recruiting South Sudanese as “combatants” to fight against them.

Social media videos of the various incidents, including one showing a man in plain clothes being thrown off a bridge and then shot by a group of men, have been widely circulated online.

BBC Verify has confirmed that the video was filmed on the Hantoub Bridge on the Blue Nile.

We have compared the main features in the video including the rail and the paint on the rail as seen in the video to the old footage of the bridge.

One of the people involved in the accident, who is carrying a Sudanese flag, is wearing clothes with the logo of the al-Bara’a bin Malik Brigade, which has been fighting alongside the Sudanese army in Khartoum and the international community. neighbors.

Two other videos taken elsewhere show the bodies of at least 30 men in plain clothes lying on the ground next to a wall.

BBC Verify has established, through similar elements seen in the video and satellite images, that the footage was filmed northwest of Wad Madani a few meters from where the army appears to have hidden RSF fighters.

It is not known how the people died and if they were killed before the bodies were collected there.

It is also impossible to identify them or if they were affiliated with any military group, as it is common for armed fighters not to wear uniforms.

Videos of ambushes, mass shootings, and their effects are also spreading.

Sudan’s military on Tuesday condemned what it called “violations” in parts of Gezira, and promised to hold those responsible accountable.

The RSF was accused of insurgency in Gezira following the rebellion of its commander Abu Aqla Kaikal in October last year.

Kaikal was heavily involved in the operation which resulted in the army regaining control of Wad Madani.

Additional reporting by Yussuf Abdullahi, BBC Monitoring.