New US sanctions target Sudan’s warring military leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions on the leader of Sudan’s military Thursday, saying he was blocking humanitarian aid and bombing hospitals, schools and markets in a war against an armed rival that has created a widening famine and the world’s largest displacement crisis.

The sanctions that the Treasury Department announced against Sudanese Armed Forces leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and separate sanctions announced Thursday over North Korea’s alleged forced labor for profit abroad, were among the last efforts by the outgoing Biden administration to use financial penalties to shape the behavior of foreign actors.

The newly announced penalties follow U.S. sanctions imposed this month on Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, head of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Burhan’s adversary in a nearly 2-year-old war.

Fighting between the forces of Burhan and Mousa exploded in the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023 and spread to other areas. The conflict has been marked by atrocities, including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to the U.N. and rights groups. Both sides are accused of blocking desperately needed aid to civilians.

In all, the power struggle has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people — about 30% of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

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Rising deaths from starvation have led to declarations of famine in five areas of Sudan.

The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ongoing U.S. sanctions are aimed at disrupting the flow of weapons into Sudan and holding combatants “responsible for their blatant disregard of civilian lives,” the Treasury Department said Thursday.

The U.S. also penalized one of the top arms procurers for Burhan’s forces.

Separately, the U.S. levied sanctions on members of networks accused of forcing thousands of North Korean internet-technology workers to work abroad to generate revenue for the government and military.

The sanctions name a North Korean weapons-trading department, two front companies that the U.S. says it operates in Laos and the company leaders as well as a Chinese firm accused of supplying North Korea with electronic equipment.