Nairobi, November 9 — A United Nations Security Council has sanctioned two generals from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for crimes committed during the ongoing conflict against the Sudanese army.
These mark the first UN sanctions in the current war in Sudan, which began in April 2023.
Major General Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla, the West Darfur Commander, and Major General Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed, Head of RSF Operations, were added to the U.N. sanctions list on Friday by the 15-member Security Council.
The sanctions require all countries to free the assets of the generals and impose a travel ban. They were the result of a U.S. proposal made at the end of August. Allegedly the move had been delayed by Russia because it wanted more time to study the proposal.
Mohamed was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in May. He was a former Sudanese army officer and has largely been attributed as the mastermind behind RSF attacks across Sudan.
The UN Security Council created its targeted Sudan sanctions regime in 2005 to help end the conflict in Darfur at the time. There are currently only three other people on the sanctions list, who were added in 2006.