The United States has accused Sudan’s military government of deploying chemical weapons during the country’s ongoing civil war, triggering a new round of sanctions.

On Thursday, the State Department announced that the Sudanese Armed Forces violated the Chemical Weapons Convention with attacks carried out amid the 2024 conflict against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as Breitbart reports.

According to State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, the determination was finalized on April 24 and formally submitted to Congress this week. The notification initiates a 15-day review period before sanctions take effect.

Washington to impose sanctions

The upcoming sanctions will include tight limits on U.S. exports to Sudan and block the country’s military-led government from accessing U.S. financial credit programs. These measures are part of Washington’s enforcement of nonproliferation norms under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which Sudan ratified in 1999.

“The U.S. has determined that the Government of Sudan used chemical weapons in 2024, violating its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention,” Bruce said in a statement. She continued, “As a result, we will impose new sanctions, including restricting U.S. exports to Sudan and the Sudanese government’s access to U.S. government lines of credit.”

The U.S. also called on Sudan’s military regime to end its use of prohibited weapons and uphold its international commitments. No exact dates or locations of the alleged chemical attacks were disclosed, but officials believe they took place in remote areas in 2024.

New York Times report preceded determination

Reports of chemical weapons use first surfaced publicly in January when the New York Times cited four Biden administration officials who said the Sudanese military had used chlorine gas against RSF fighters on at least two separate occasions. The newspaper’s sources indicated the strikes occurred in isolated regions, though U.S. officials warned they could extend toward civilian zones.

Two American officials suggested that only senior figures within Sudan’s military hierarchy were aware of the program. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto ruler since 2021, reportedly approved the deployment of the weapons.

The Treasury Department had sanctioned Burhan earlier this year over lethal force used against civilians and the use of starvation as a tactic of war. While those penalties did not name chemical weapon use explicitly, sources told media outlets that the charges were a contributing factor in the decision-making process.

Sudanese, RSF Leaders face allegations

The RSF leader, General Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, who was once Burhan's ally and is now his enemy in the Sudanese civil war, was also sanctioned one week before Burhan. U.S. officials accused Daglo of serious human rights abuses unrelated to chemical weapon use.

Both Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the opposing RSF have been implicated in war crimes during the internal conflict. The civil war erupted in 2023 after the collapse of the power-sharing arrangement that followed the 2019 ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir.

The power-sharing junta between Burhan and Daglo disintegrated in 2023 when both men turned against each other, plunging the country into chaos. Since then, fighting has displaced more than 700,000 people and worsened famine, disease, and violent destruction across Sudan.

Sudanese government rejects charges

Khalid al-Aiser, the information minister for the current military government, rejected the accusations as false and politically motivated. “This false narrative, which the American administration is trying to spread internationally, is just another attempt to mislead public opinion,” he said during a press event.

Al-Aiser further charged that Washington has ignored abuses allegedly committed by the RSF, accusing the U.S. of bias and suggesting Emirati influence may be behind American policy. “Washington remains silent on documented crimes against civilians in Darfur and other regions, crimes supported by the Emirates, who provide militias with strategic drones and sophisticated American weapons,” he said.

Al-Aiser’s statements reflected longstanding tensions between the SAF-dominated government and international observers who have found fault with tactics on both sides of the civil war. So far, the Sudanese government has not provided evidence to refute the claims made by the U.S.

UAE denies supplying arms

Amnesty International, meanwhile, has accused the United Arab Emirates of violating the U.N. arms embargo by re-exporting advanced Chinese-made weaponry to Sudan. According to the group, the RSF has used GB50A guided bombs, AH-5 howitzers, and unmanned aerial vehicles allegedly provided through Emirati channels.

The UAE dismissed the report, calling it unsubstantiated. Salem Aljaberi, an assistant minister overseeing security and military affairs, said, "The UAE strongly rejects the suggestion that it is supplying weaponry to any party involved in the ongoing conflict in Sudan."

The Amnesty report nonetheless echoed growing international concerns over third-party involvement prolonging the conflict in Sudan, particularly by supplying sophisticated arms to non-state actors like the RSF.

International community watches as sanctions loom

As the 15-day congressional review period proceeds, observers are watching to see how or whether the Sudanese government changes its course. The new sanctions are some of the strictest measures imposed against the country since the country's 2019 transition stalled.

Humanitarian organizations continue to warn of worsening conditions on the ground. With the potential use of chemical agents and the supply of advanced foreign weaponry, Sudan’s crisis has deepened along complex regional and geopolitical fault lines. For now, the U.S. maintains that Sudan must stop all use of chemical munitions and adhere fully to the chemical arms treaty it has violated. The impact of the impending sanctions, however, remains to be seen.