Cairo: The European Union imposed sanctions on a top leader of Sudan’s paramilitary group over “grave and ongoing atrocities” by his forces in the more than two-year war with the Sudanese army, including in the western Darfur region, where they captured the army’s last stronghold last month.
The measures announced Thursday against Abdel-Rahim Hamdan Dagalo follow similar sanctions against the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group at war with the Sudanese army. The United States also imposed sanctions on Dagalo in September 2023, early on in the conflict.
Dagalo is the No. 2 in the paramilitary group and the brother of its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.
The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council said it imposed the measures against Abdel-Rahim Hamdan Dagalo over violations committed by his troops, including during last month’s seizure of el-Fasher, a key city in Darfur.
“The European Union condemns in the strongest terms the grave and ongoing atrocities perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, including following the seizure of the city of el-Fasher,” it said.
“This sends a signal that the international community will come after those who are responsible,” EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters during a news conference on Thursday.
There was no immediate reaction from the RSF, which had besieged el-Fasher for over 18 months before taking the city from the army and effectively seizing the entire Darfur region. The RSF attacks left hundreds dead and forced tens of thousands to flee to overcrowded camps.
The war between the RSF and the military began in 2023, when tensions erupted between the two former allies that were meant to oversee a
democratic transition after a 2019 uprising.