Watan–The United States has imposed strict sanctions on Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemeti”), the leader of the Rapid Support Forces militia in Sudan, along with seven companies based in the UAE, for their support of militias involved in committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against Sudanese civilians.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated in an official statement that the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias have committed severe violations, including systematic killings of civilians, rape of women and girls, and forced displacement. It emphasized that Hemeti is the primary responsible for these atrocities, which were carried out with generous support from the UAE, where the militia leader receives funding and armament through companies based in Abu Dhabi.
The companies targeted by the sanctions include Capital Tab Holding, a group that manages over fifty companies worldwide, owned by Sudanese Abu Zarr Ahmed, who has close ties to Hemeti’s brother. The sanctions also covered Emerald and Ruby Jewelry Company and Old Generation Trading Company.
The sanctions include a travel ban on Hemeti to the United States, freezing any of his financial assets within U.S. territories, and prohibiting any financial transactions with entities listed on the blacklist.
In its initial response, the Rapid Support Forces militia described the sanctions as “unjust and political,” while the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed them, considering them a necessary step to pressure the militias after two years of fighting with the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The bloody war has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and displaced over 12 million Sudanese, creating the largest humanitarian crisis in modern Sudan’s history, according to United Nations reports.
Analysts believe that the U.S. sanctions came too late, after Hemeti had strengthened his economic and military influence with the help of the UAE, which exploited the chaos to take control of Sudan‘s natural resources, such as gold and diamonds, through secret funding networks.
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