WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on three commanders of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over their alleged role in the 18-month siege and capture of Al-Fashir, accusing the group of carrying out systematic killings and widespread abuses.
The US Department of the Treasury, in a statement, said RSF forces conducted “a horrific campaign of ethnic killings, torture, starvation and sexual violence” during the siege and subsequent takeover of the Darfur city.
Al-Fashir fell to RSF fighters in October 2025 following a prolonged blockade that triggered famine-like conditions and mass displacement. The Treasury alleged that after seizing control, RSF elements intensified killings, arbitrary detentions and sexual violence, affecting civilians across the city. It further accused the paramilitary group of attempting to destroy evidence of atrocities by burying and burning bodies.
According to estimates, more than 100,000 residents fled Al-Fashir since late October after RSF forces captured the city, with survivors reporting ethnically motivated mass killings and widespread detentions. Many people remain missing in the city and surrounding areas.
US officials called on the RSF to agree to an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. “We will not tolerate this ongoing campaign of terror and senseless killing in Sudan,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
The sanctions target an RSF brigadier general accused of filming himself killing unarmed civilians, along with a major general and a field commander linked to alleged abuses during the siege.