EU adopts sanctions against six over Sudan civil war

EU countries adopted sanctions against six people in Sudan on Monday over the war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has engulfed the country.

The listings include a general commanding the RSF in West Darfur, who the EU Council said is responsible for committing atrocities, instigating ethnically motivated killings, sexual violence and the looting and burning of communities.

They also include the RSF's financial adviser, as well as a prominent tribal leader of the Mahamid clan affiliated with the RSF in West Darfur.

On the side of the Sudanese army, sanctions target the director of Defense Industry Systems and the commander of the Sudanese Air Force for their responsibility in the "indiscriminate aerial bombing of densely populated residential areas", the EU Council said.

Former Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Ahmed Karti Mohamed is also listed.

The six are now subject to an asset freeze and travel ban in the 27-nation European Union. 

War between the army and the RSF erupted over conditions for a transition to democracy in mid-April last year in the capital Khartoum, soon spreading to other parts of the country.

The conflict has led to the world's largest displacement crisis, renewed ethnic violence in Darfur blamed on the RSF and its allies, and a sharp increase in extreme hunger.

(Reuters)