July 12 (UPI) — Britain on Wednesday announced punitive measures targeting businesses linked to the warring sides in Sudan’s worsening bloody conflict in an attempt to cut off revenue sources London says is prolonging the fighting.
The sanctions target six companies, three connected to the Sudaneses Armed Forces and three to the breakaway Rapid Support Forces, some of which were blacklisted by the United States early last month.
“These sanctions are directly targeting those whose actions have destroyed the lives of millions,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
“Innocent civilians continue to face the devastating effects of the hostilities, and we simply cannot afford to sit by and watch as money from these companies, all funding the RSF or SAF, is spent on a senseless conflict.”
The Northeast African nation has for years teetered on the precipice of war and stability since the military ousted the country’s former nearly three-decade dictator government of President Omar al-Bashir in a civilian-backed coup in 2019.
As the country crawled toward democracy, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the SAF, and his deputy, RSF head Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, executed another coup in 2021 but infighting over control of the government turned into bloodshed on April 15, with civilians paying a heavy price.
According to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, since the fighting began, nearly 3 million people have been displaced. It states 2.2 million have been displaced within the country and another 700,000 have been forced to cross borders into neighboring nations.
Britain identified the companies associated with the RSF as GSK Advance Company, front company Tradive General Trading and Al-Junaid, which operates 11 subsidiaries in multiple sectors, including gold mining.
Those connected to the SAF were named as weapons company Sudan Master Technology, Zadna International Company for Investment Limited and Defense Industries Systems, the African nation’s largest defense enterprise.
“The SAF and RSF have dragged Sudan into a wholly unjustified war, with utter disregard for the Sudanese people, and must be held accountable,” Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said in a statement. “These sanctions are designed to pressure the parties to engage in a meaningful and lasting peace process.”
The announcement comes after the Biden administration June 1 sanctioned four Sudanese companies, three of which were hit by Britain on Wednesday.
On the weekend, U.N. Secretary Antonio Guterres warned that the conflict was on the brink of devolving into a full-scale civil war.