US sanctions Sudan’s de facto President

The US Government has imposed sanctions on the head of Sudan's army and de facto President General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Treasury Department said. According to BBC News, he has been leading one of the two sides in the 21-month civil war that has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12m and pushed the country to the brink of famine. In a brief statement, the US accused Burhan of ‘destabilising Sudan and undermining the goal of a democratic transition’. Last week, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary group fighting the army, was also sanctioned by the US. The US accused Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces of committing genocide during the conflict. In announcing the sanctions on Burhan on Thursday, Washington said that the army under his command ‘has committed lethal attacks on civilians. The US also alleges that the army is ‘responsible for the routine and intentional denial of humanitarian access, using food deprivation as a war tactic’. During the first year of the conflict, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the army had committed war crimes.