The United States on Monday proposed expanding an existing UN arms embargo for Darfur to cover all of Sudan.
The proposal was put forth by US Envoy Massad Boulos during a UN Security Council meeting in New York.
“The brutality of the war waged by the Rapid Support Forces [RSF] and the Sudanese Armed Forces has discredited their claims to be legitimate governors of the Sudanese people,” said Boulos, who warned that “external financial and military support is fueling the conflict and risks drawing neighboring states deeper into war.”
Boulos said the US wants to expand the embargo geographically as well as materially in order to cover unmanned aerial vehicles and related technologies. Moreover, the US plan would see the number of experts monitoring the embargo increased.
The Darfur embargo has been in place for two decades and will expire on September 12, 2026, if not amended or renewed.
An expansion would require a Security Council vote.
Sudan wants ‘technical extension’ but warns against hampering army
Sudan’s UN envoy urged members to endorse a “technical extension” of the existing embargo while warning against changes that would hamper the army.
“Sudan suffers the most from weapons and their illegal flow. However, expanding such a sanctions regime will weaken the protection of civilians,” said Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed.
Russia, which holds veto powers in the Security Council, has voiced skepticism over changes to the existing deal, saying that expanding the embargo could impact the Sudanese army’s effectiveness.
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UN Sudan experts say sophisticated weaponry suggests ‘external support’
Before Boulos articulated the US position, UN Under Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary Di Carlo warned that a “worrying aspect of the conflict in Sudan is its increasing complexity.”
“Sophisticated weaponry,” she said, “continues to point to ongoing external support to both parties.”
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, also made note of the fact that, “in recent weeks, fighting in Sudan has been characterized by the heavy use of drones and localized ground combat in areas less affected by rainy season conditions.”
The war in Sudan, now in its fourth year, has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of civilians.
While Sudan’s army holds sway in the country’s central and eastern regions, western and parts of southern Darfur are under control of rival Rapid Support Forces.
Darfur, a vast western region the size of France, has seen some of the worst violence of the conflict, with repeated attacks on displacement camps and ethnic massacres that kill thousands at a time.
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Edited by: Rana Taha
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