The US has accused Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) of committing genocide and imposed sanctions on its leader.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday that Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, was being punished for his role in “systematic” atrocities against the Sudanese people during the 20-month conflict.
He said the RSF and allied militias were responsible for killing “men and boys – even babies” as well as brutal sexual violence against women on ethnic grounds.
Militias have also attacked fleeing civilians and killed innocent people fleeing the conflict, Blinken said.
“Based on this information, I have concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan,” he said.
In response, RSF accused the US of double standards and of failing to effectively deal with the ongoing crisis.
“The decision … expresses the failure of (US President Joe) Biden's administration to deal with the Sudan crisis and the double standards it followed (regarding the crisis),” Hemedti's adviser, El-Basha Tbaek, said in a post on his X account.
He added that this could complicate the Sudanese crisis and hinder negotiations to address the root causes of the conflict.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023. and there is growing discontent about their conduct during the war.
The US has previously found the RSF and other militias engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in the West Darfur region, where the group has been accused of targeting and killing non-Arabs.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with the conflict leading to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
In May, the US special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, said that according to some estimates, up to 150,000 people had been killed in the conflict.
Famine has been declared in several parts of the country, with 24.6 million people – about half the population – in urgent need of food aid, according to experts.
Blinken said neither the RSF nor Sudan's army were fit to rule Sudan.
“Both warring parties are responsible for the violence and suffering in Sudan and have no legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan,” he said.
The sanctions bar Hemedti and his closest family members from visiting the US, and all personal assets there are frozen.
Seven RSF-owned companies based in the United Arab Emirates and one other individual were also sanctioned for helping the paramilitary group procure weapons.