NAIROBI: The United States will impose financial sanctions on Sudan’s leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Washington was set to announce the measures just a week after imposing sanctions against Burhan’s rival in a two-year-old civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Two of the sources said one aim of the sanctions on Burhan was to show that Washington was not picking sides.
Speaking among his soldiers earlier on Thursday, Burhan was defiant about the prospect that he might be targeted.
“I hear there’s going to be sanctions on the army leadership. We welcome any sanctions for serving this country,” he said in comments broadcast on Al Jazeera television.
The Sudanese army and spokespeople for the US State and Treasury departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Sudanese army and the RSF together led a coup in 2021 removing Sudan’s civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces.
The war that broke out in April 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger.
