LONDON — The United Kingdom announced sanctions against 15 senior military commanders from Sudan's warring factions, citing their suspected involvement in rape and mass slaughter of civilians in El Fasher. The measures, including travel bans and asset freezes, mark the first anniversary of the city's fall.
The sanctioned individuals belong to both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The British Foreign Office said the action aims to ensure "the horrors that took place at El Fasher will be known to the world."
During the RSF's takeover of El Fasher, as many as 10,000 men, women and children were killed over two days. An additional 40,000 people remain unaccounted for following the violence.
The killings occurred at the conclusion of an 18-month starvation siege imposed by the RSF. The United Arab Emirates has been accused of backing the RSF, a claim the UAE continues to deny.
Among those targeted by the UK's sanctions is Hussein Abu Jalak, an RSF colonel linked to atrocities during the siege that forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to survive on animal feed. Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, also known as "Al-Qubba," another sanctioned individual, played a prominent role in the attack on El Fasher.
El Fasher, which had a prewar population exceeding one million, now holds fewer than 70,000 residents. Testimonies from the city describe routine detention, torture and unlawful killings continuing.
Earlier this year, an investigation revealed that internal warnings from U.S. and UK officials were disregarded in the period leading up to the RSF's assault on El Fasher.
In the 12 months since El Fasher's fall, Sudan's conflict has forced 14 million people to flee their homes. The conflict has increasingly evolved into a drone war, with recent RSF strikes causing widespread power outages across east Sudan through coordinated attacks on power stations.
